Sam Bowie [ESPN documentary]

[Haakzilla]

...this is plastered on the front page of ESPN.com right now!

Sam Bowie doesn't ask 'what if?'
There's more to him than broken bones and Michael Jordan

Marcus Bowie, the 12-year-old son of Sam, recently Googled his father. The name Michael Jordan came up. The name Greg Oden came up. The word "bust" exploded up.

He asked his father what it all meant. So Sam Bowie launched into the story that never ends, the story that came full circle in 2007, the story that the Internet has only half right.

In the past, Sam would have let this all go, would have never felt the need to explain himself. He's always ignored the argument that he's the worst draft pick in NBA history; he's always been comfortable in his 7-foot-1 skin. But his kids are getting older now and his name still trends on Twitter and the bloggers won't let Bowie-over-Jordan go. So it was time. When I arrived in Lexington, Ky., with my co-director, Jon Fish, to shoot an ESPN Films documentary on Bowie's journey, Sam told us what he told Marcus Bowie:

Dad played 10 years in the NBA on two broken legs.

Anyone else would've quit.

Dad is not a bust.

--> READ MORE + [video]

 

[santeesioux]

Fuck Sam Bowie, and fuck Espn.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

Fuck Sam Bowie, and fuck Espn.

While I agree with the sentiment of this (opening old wounds, re-beating dead horses, etc.), the fact is, hopefully let THIS is the last word: The Drafting of Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan was, at the time, the correct decision that every other GM in the league would have done, given the pieces that the Blazers had at the time (Jim Paxson, Clyde Drexler, had just traded Wayne Cooper for Kiki Vandeweghe), whom they were competing against (The Lakers with Kareem, Ralph Sampson with the Rockets, Mark Eaton with the Jazz), and the prevailing paradigm that Centers win championships.

The Blazers and their fans deserve this issue to be put to rest once and for all.

 

[KingSpeed]

Great article. Bowie still had a decent career with some spectacular games. Oden is the true bust, not Bowie.

 

[HailBlazers]

Oden is the true bust, not Bowie.

No the Blazers Medical Staff is a Bust. Giving a player MF surgery at 18 years of age was ill advised. Greg could have had just as long a career if it wasn't for the first MF Gamble.

 

[julius]

No the Blazers Medical Staff is a Bust. Giving a player MF surgery at 18 years of age was ill advised. Greg could have had just as long a career if it wasn't for the first MF Gamble.

Was ut their medical staff that gave him a MF? I thought it was an independent doctor.

Also, what 18 year old NEEDS a MF in the first fucking place? And then needs 2 more in the next 4 years, and has a kneecap explode on him?

 

[HailBlazers]

Independent Doctor. However, the Blazers irresponsibly put the option of MF on the table in the first place knowing that the damage could possibily be severe enough to warrant it. Regardless the warrant he was too young for it to even be consider, IMHO.

Oden to undergo knee surgery

Blazers officials would not comment beyond a four-sentence news release issued Monday evening that said Oden underwent a magnetic resonance imaging last week and results revealed that he may have cartilage problems in the knee.
A team source told The Oregonian that the MRI results were inconclusive and that the damage could be as minor as a cartilage injury or as major as a ligament tear. The source added that if doctors find something more severe, they would operate immediately Thursday.

Oden undergoes micro fracture surgery, likely out for the season

"Greg had an arthroscopy and a micro fracture surgery today," said team physician Dr. Don Roberts, who preformed the surgery. "He was found to have articular cartilage damage in his right knee. The area of injury was not large and we were able to treat it with micro fracture, which stimulates the growth of cartilage. There are things about this that are positive for Greg.
First of all he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from micro fracture surgery."

 

[julius]

So, it's the Blazers fault that an independent doctor, who knows far more about knees than you or I do, suggested he had a MF?

I wish he didn't need it or have it, but I think you're stretching here.

 

[HailBlazers]

Shot in the dark perhaps, but the same could be said for giving your 18 year old #1 draft pick MF surgery. Regardless who's fault it was, it was a short sighted operation IMO, especially when considering the relatively newness of the procedure.

 

[Boob-No-More]

"He had a 38-point game against Minnesota and a 34-point, 15-rebound game against Houston and Olajuwon."

I remember that 34/15 game against Houston. Hakeem was in his prime and considered the best center in the game - and Sam, for one night, completely dominated him. Here's a link to the box score.

Here's another link to the 38/20 game he had against Minnesota.

The guy definitely had talent. No doubt about that. Both those games were AFTER all the injuries. Imagine how good he could have been if he'd ever been healthy.

BNM