Walton has high praise for Greg Oden
10/17/2009 4:15 AM
/ Posted in: gregoden, Blazers
As a member of the NBA Hall of Fame and one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, Bill Walton has helped set the precedent for what it means to be a great center in the NBA. Although it's unfair to assume that Greg Oden will reach the tremendous heights that Walton did during his career, many Trail Blazers fans have saddled Oden with some incredibly high expectations.
When asked about Oden, it was clear that Walton had nothing but praise and admiration for his game and his work ethic, but also noted how important health would be to Oden's development.
"He is really good," Walton said with a laugh. "Greg Oden, he is one of those players that is capable of being a historical level figure. He has been slowed by injury. One of the biggest misconceptions about injured players is that it is just about hard work. If it was just hard work, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, Mitch Kupchak, Bernard King, they'd all still be playing. There is a tremendous amount of luck involved. Greg needs a string of good luck. Hopefully that's there right now."
Even more important for Walton is the fact that Oden is a quality individual away from the court. For this reason, Walton believes that Oden deserves all the success that will come his way.
"He is tremendously popular with his teammates, and he is a very solid, deep-thinking, concerned citizen," Walton said of Oden. "When the Trail Blazers say 'it's time to make it better in the world', that's what Greg Oden is all about. So the stage is set, and we're supremely hopeful that it's all going to work. It's nice when good things happen to good people."