Kevin Durant doesn’t believe Greg Oden should be considered the biggest bust in NBA history, as he tells Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. “Nonsense. That’s nonsense,” Durant exclaimed. “In order for you to be a bust, you have to actually play and show people that you progressed as a player. He didn’t get a chance to.” Oden was the only player selected ahead of Durant in the 2007 draft.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Durant added that he initially wanted to be drafted by the Blazers, Haynes writes in the same piece. “I definitely wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but I landed in a great situation,” Durant said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. I would love to play with LaMarcus [Aldridge] and Brandon Roy, but when I was the second pick, I was very excited to get to Seattle. We had traded Ray Allen, like, two picks later, and I was like, ‘Wow. They’re really opening it up for me and really allowing me to grow as a player.’ So I didn’t even worry about being the No. 1 pick after that. Once we traded Ray Allen, I was like, ‘This is my team.’ They’re going to allow me to grow and make my mistakes. So I was looking forward to it.”
- DeMar DeRozan has been sensational this season and he credits his summer dedication for the elevation in his game, Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun writes. “I didn’t get to enjoy the summer,” DeRozan said. “It was really one of them summers where it was just a sickening dedication to where I had a lot of days where it was [difficult]. It was really tough to be that self-motivated. It was all on me. It was no one saying you have to do it. I wanted to do it.” The shooting guard re-signed with the Raptors over the summer on a deal that will pay him $139MM over five years.
Oden was a bust as a pick, not a bust as a player. Not sure the difference matters at all but I guess that’s what Durant is getting at.
A bust is a bust. Injuries can make you a bust.
He can be put into the same sentence As #2 overall Shawn Bradley… bust. (Lol)