Greg Oden, Sam Bowie, And NBA Busts
The thing about comparing Greg Oden to Sam Bowie is that such comparisons are utterly unfair — to Bowie. So here’s a look at some notable NBA busts, limiting it to players selected in the top three of the draft over the past 40 years (just so we can include LaRue Martin).
Bowie managed to play 511 games in his career, averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds. In his first four years after college, he played 76, 38, 5, and 0 games; Oden has played 0, 61, 21, 0.
Here are the career statistics for a list that includes a notable number of Blazers — Oden, Bowie, and Martin. PER, by the way, is Player Efficiency Rating, according to basketball-reference.
| Player | Pick | Yrs | G | Min | PPG | RPG | APG | BPG | FG% | PER |
| Greg Oden | 1 | 4 | 82 | 1816 | 9.4 | 7.3 | 0.6 | 1.4 | .577 | 19.5 |
| Sam Bowie | 2 | 10 | 511 | 14098 | 10.9 | 7.5 | 2.1 | 1.8 | .452 | 14.6 |
| LaRue Martin | 1 | 4 | 271 | 3795 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | .416 | 12.1 |
| Kwame Brown | 1 | 10 | 511 | 11231 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | .488 | 12.6 |
| Michael Olowokandi | 1 | 9 | 500 | 13130 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 1.4 | .435 | 10.7 |
| Kent Benson | 1 | 11 | 680 | 15719 | 9.1 | 5.7 | 1.8 | 0.9 | .493 | 14.1 |
| Adam Morrison | 3 | 3 | 161 | 3278 | 7.5 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.1 | .373 | 7.4 |
| Darko Milicic | 2 | 8 | 382 | 6795 | 5.6 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | .452 | 12.4 |
| Jay Williams | 2 | 1 | 75 | 1961 | 9.5 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 0.2 | .399 | 12.2 |
| Danny Ferry | 2 | 13 | 917 | 18131 | 7.0 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | .446 | 11.8 |
| Dennis Hopson | 3 | 5 | 334 | 7509 | 10.9 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.5 | .431 | 13.3 |
| Len Bias | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | .— | 0.0 |
| Chris Washburn | 3 | 2 | 72 | 645 | 3.1 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | .412 | 7.6 |
| Rick Robey | 3 | 8 | 493 | 8824 | 7.6 | 4.7 | 1.2 | 0.2 | .501 | 12.8 |
| Richard Washington | 3 | 6 | 351 | 7874 | 9.8 | 6.3 | 1.2 | 0.8 | .453 | 13.3 |
| Ernie DiGregorio | 3 | 5 | 312 | 7859 | 9.6 | 2.0 | 5.1 | 0.0 | .415 | 12.2 |
Most of these guys, like Oden, suffered injuries that hampered or ended their careers. And per minute, Oden clearly is the best player among the group. He just can’t stay on the court, even when “healthy,” because of a penchant for fouling.
Most of the players on the list are big men, because big men tend to be selected higher in the draft. We’ll have more about that in my Sunday column for the paper. And for Blazer fans who are feeling depressed about Oden’s latest season-ending injury, look at it this way: It could be worse. He could be Chris Washburn.
Which brings us to the infamous 1986 NBA Draft. Brad Daugherty was the No. 1 pick, and he had an excellent career before moving on to an even more illustrious career as a NASCAR analyst for ESPN (seriously). Bias went No. 2, and cocaine killed him before he could play an NBA game. Washburn was No. 3, and he played 72 games in a career that was done in by cocaine. William Bedford was the No. 6 pick, and he’s in prison on drug-related charges. Roy Tarpley went No. 7, and he was eventually banned from the NBA for repeated drug violations. From Tarpley’s Wikipedia page:
He sued the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA, claiming that their refusal to reinstate him violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because his addiction was a disability. The suit was settled out of court in March 2009.
After reading all that, Oden’s problems seem relatively mundane.
