"I don't know if he's convinced himself, mentally, that he can do it,"

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Fez Hammersticks

Fez Hammersticks

スーパーバッド Zero Cool
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Only 22, Oden has another long rehab in front of him, which is a depressing thought, as it is. But during his previous rehabs, he's always struggled to keep off extra weight.

"I don't know if he's convinced himself, mentally, that he can do it," said a person close to Oden. "I don't know if he has the passion to come back. He's still young enough and this is an injury he can over-come, because you can come back from microfracture. But Greg has to be committed in all ways."
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"I thought when they added Oden, that was going to be the next great team in the West," said the Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire, who faced Oden in Phoenix. "They already had Roy, who was an All-Star. So they had the right pieces to challenge (the Suns) and the Lakers. They had a very bright future."

It's over.
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I'm not sure that his mental situation 1 day after the surgery is the best time to gauge how he'll handle it.
 
Oden was at the Maurice Lucas memorial, if I were the Blazers I'd have David Lucas to go and speak to him personally.
 
MARIS61 said:
Yeah, wait til the drugs wear off.
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I think more the shock and depression wearing off first. It's easy for us to say that he shuold respond a certain way, or that he doesn't like basketball, but we're not him. None of us know him personally, and none of us have gone through what he's gone through.

If Greg does feel this way, I hope he doesn't go through the motions and potentially cause himself more harm than it's worth (long term).

I also think people seek the rationale that backs their beliefs. He looks sad, so therefore he doesn't like basketball, for example.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
Mixum's posts are a great example of how bleak life can be after that happens.
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Strangely enough, or maybe not, his posts seem to be opposite from how the team is/fans feel.

If fans are (overall) excited, he's down and negative. If the fans are (ovearll) down and negative, he's more neutral and sensible.
 
julius said:
I'm not sure that his mental situation 1 day after the surgery is the best time to gauge how he'll handle it.
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When I was 30 I was involved in a car accident that resulted in a severe lower sacral sprain (a bad low back injury stretching out ligaments). Read up if you want, but I had to spend 5 months on the couch moving as little as possible to lose all muscle tone and allow my spine to be released from spasming muscles... then the rebuilding PT started in earnest for the next 6 months.

A year and a half after the first injury I was almost rehabbed back to being myself when I was clocked while biking by a driver of Ford F-150 that didn't observe a stop sign. I had the same injury and knew instantly that I had another year+ of being removed from life... I wouldn't have given very positive quotes that day either. While depressing, once I accepted my fate the 2nd rehab was definitely easier to endure. It helped to know how to handle the threat of depression from being cut off from everything. I'm sure Greg has people advising him how to avoid those pitfalls and a support system that far exceeds mine so I've got to imagine he'll survive

STOMP
 
STOMP said:
When I was 30 I was involved in a car accident that resulted in a severe lower sacral sprain (a bad low back injury stretching out ligaments). Read up if you want, but I had to spend 5 months on the couch moving as little as possible to lose all muscle tone and allow my spine to be released from spasming muscles... then the rebuilding PT started in earnest for the next 6 months.

A year and a half after the first injury I was almost rehabbed back to being myself when I was clocked while biking by a driver of Ford F-150 that didn't observe a stop sign. I had the same injury and knew instantly that I had another year+ of being removed from life... I wouldn't have given very positive quotes that day either. While depressing, once I accepted my fate the 2nd rehab was definitely easier to endure. It helped to know how to handle the threat of depression from being cut off from everything. I'm sure Greg has people advising him how to avoid those pitfalls and a support system that far exceeds mine so I've got to imagine he'll survive

STOMP
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Out of curiosity, how did you handle bathroom/cleaning issues?

I can't imagine being stationary for 5-6 months straight.
 
No matter if you're a pro athlete or a average shlub, being chronically injured takes its toll on you. I've had three major knee surgeries with two of those coming in the last 3 years (and I need another). Granted I'm not an elite athlete, but I was a very serious climber and mountaineer and I feel like I've been robbed of my body ... I can only imagine what Oden must be going through, with all of the pressure and the fact that this is his livelihood.
 
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Nikolokolus said:
No matter if you're a pro athlete or a average shlub, being chronically injured takes its toll on you. I've had three major knee injuries with two of those coming in the last 3 years (and I need another). Granted I'm not an elite athlete, but I was a very serious climber and mountaineer and I feel like I've been robbed of my body ... I can only imagine what Oden must be going through, with all of the pressure and the fact that this is his livelihood.
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and you don't have friends/family second guessing everything you do, calling you all sorts of negative names, and accusing you of things you didn't do/wouldn't do/or everyone else does.

Sure, he has millions, but that doesn't mean people can heap all sorts of shit on him because they want to.
 
julius said:
and you don't have friends/family second guessing everything you do, calling you all sorts of negative names, and accusing you of things you didn't do/wouldn't do/or everyone else does.

Sure, he has millions, but that doesn't mean people can heap all sorts of shit on him because they want to.
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You haven't met my family and friends
 
julius said:
I'm not sure that his mental situation 1 day after the surgery is the best time to gauge how he'll handle it.
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You mean 1 day after his "3rd" surgery. I dont think he has the killer instinct or desire that is needed to rehabilitate himself to be a all star caliber player in this league. Some guys have what it takes and some dont. I feel as if oden is content with his 20 mil and is riding off the fame that comes with being the #1 pick. Even if he dosent play another game in this league, he could still pull a stripper from 205 off his staus right now, and unfortunately i think he is ok with that.
 
Nikolokolus said:
I've had three major knee injuries with two of those coming in the last 3 years (and I need another).
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You need another? Greg has one to spare.

barfo
 
STOMP said:
When I was 30 I was involved in a car accident that resulted in a severe lower sacral sprain (a bad low back injury stretching out ligaments). Read up if you want, but I had to spend 5 months on the couch moving as little as possible to lose all muscle tone and allow my spine to be released from spasming muscles... then the rebuilding PT started in earnest for the next 6 months.

A year and a half after the first injury I was almost rehabbed back to being myself when I was clocked while biking by a driver of Ford F-150 that didn't observe a stop sign. I had the same injury and knew instantly that I had another year+ of being removed from life... I wouldn't have given very positive quotes that day either. While depressing, once I accepted my fate the 2nd rehab was definitely easier to endure. It helped to know how to handle the threat of depression from being cut off from everything. I'm sure Greg has people advising him how to avoid those pitfalls and a support system that far exceeds mine so I've got to imagine he'll survive

STOMP
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Ouch. That must've been really, really hard. I can only imagine.

I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts as reports trickle out about Oden's recovery.
 
Nhawz said:
You mean 1 day after his "3rd" surgery. I dont think he has the killer instinct or desire that is needed to rehabilitate himself to be a all star caliber player in this league. Some guys have what it takes and some dont. I feel as if oden is content with his 20 mil and is riding off the fame that comes with being the #1 pick. Even if he dosent play another game in this league, he could still pull a stripper from 205 off his staus right now, and unfortunately i think he is ok with that.
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I think the fact he's in his 3rd rehab puts things in perspective. Both in the sense that he's had too many injuries, and that it has to take a toll on his mindset. So I'm not upset if he says (or someone says) he's not gung-ho right now. I doubt most people would be in his shoes.
 
Unlike any of us...Greg has 8.6 million reasons to aggressively rehab! And that is the minimum amount of reasons!

I think that he'll come around.
 
“I’m sure he’ll be back,” Durant said. “This is just a slight bump in the road. It happens. People go through adversity. He’s going to be fine. I hope and pray that he is and he gets back to full strength.”

Unlike the rest of the basketball world, Durant said his thoughts didn’t immediately drift back to draft night 2007 and the unavoidable question of ‘what if?’ when he heard Oden would miss the entire 2010-11 season — the second time in four years Oden will have missed an entire season because of rickety knees.

“Not at all,” Durant said. “I just think about his well-being. That’s selfish to think about myself when he’s hurt. Like I said, I feel for the team, for him, for his mom and his family. He’s been through so much as a player, getting hurt in college and then working so hard and playing so well to be the No. 1 pick, and then getting hurt before his rookie season and getting hurt his second year. That’s tough.”

Durant, though, did admit he still feels the connection to Oden, especially when his Thunder plays against Oden’s Blazers.

“Yeah. All the time,” Durant said. “Every time we play Portland I think about me and him and that debate that went on before the draft. I played against him three or four times. So I miss seeing him out on the floor. Because we became good friends because of that. I just wish him well. Hopefully he comes back quick.”

Oden, Durant said, still has plenty to offer.

“I hope people don’t give up on him, because when he’s playing he’s one helluva player,” Durant said. “When he gets back, I know he’s going to be ready to play.”
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LINK​
 
julius said:
Out of curiosity, how did you handle bathroom/cleaning issues?

I can't imagine being stationary for 5-6 months straight.
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the spine is largely held in place by ligaments pulling in opposite directions. My initial injury was caused by a car that hit mine on the passenger side. The impact caused the spine to go to the left stretching out the ligaments on the right side of my body. The muscles continued to spasm around the spine locking it out of place. I could move albeit painfully, but the initial rehab goal was to move as little as possible so that my core muscles would lose their strength and release the spine to go back to it's normal slot. 95%+ of each day was spent on my back, but I could go to the bathroom/cook a meal etc...

Once stretched out ligaments never regain their initial elasticity, so my spine is not supported/held in place like it used to be. I compensate by doing exercises that strengthen the core muscles. I still have the occasional bad day when I've sat or slept too long in a bad posture position and I'm so stiff/broken it's like I'm 90, but overall I'm doing well and am more athletic then all but a couple of my friends. I played 4 games of pick up hoops Friday night and am off to play some Frizbee Golf this morning after this posting. Without question the light at the end of my tunnel when faced with these grueling lonely rehabs was to goal of getting back on the court and playing hoops.

STOMP
 
Public Defender said:
Ouch. That must've been really, really hard. I can only imagine.

I'll be intrigued to hear your thoughts as reports trickle out about Oden's recovery.
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I mostly have a lot of empathy for Greg... I'm sure he's dying inside and that vicariously hurts me as I can relate. One of the worst things for me was when I got visitors. They'd nervously be asking me questions and sharing their lives while I'd become completely aware of my sad shut in state and that I had nothing positive to share back. Then I'd start feeling bad about making them feel bad for me... avoiding depression was tough to do. When I'd catch myself feeling a downward spiral of self pity coming on I'd say "I'm so lucky..." and then try to list all of the good things in my life. I'm so lucky that medical science has figured out how to deal with this situation... if I'd had the same injury 50 years ago I'd be fucked for life. I'm so lucky to be able to have my bills largely taken care of by workman's comp. I'd do this all the way down to being so lucky that my teeth were good because of fluoride.

hopefully Greg has similarly figured out how to protect his mental health as he deals with his physical health

STOMP
 
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