The incessantly injured Greg Oden talked to reporters Thursday for the first time since his knee surgery in November.
Here’s some of the Q & A:
Do you think your knee is going to come back stronger?
“Hopefully. God willing, after all this. Hopefully they’ll be strong, strong as they can possibly be.”
How do you deal with the doubters, especially considering what Kevin Durant is doing?
“I know what I can do. I just gotta get healthy. I’m not worried about everybody else. Kevin Durant is doing a great job. Who wouldn’t want to lead the league in scoring and be an All-Star? But right now I gotta worry about myself and get myself healthy and put myself in a position to dominate.”
Do you have a message for the fans? Are they frustrated that you might not be out there?
“They’re not frustrated half as much as I’ve been frustrated. I’ll be back. All I can do is control myself over what I’m doing. Right now I’m rehabbing as hard as I can. … Obviously (returning by October) is my goal, but I can’t rush my recovery time.”
Do you want to be with the Blazers next year?
“That’s out of my hands. I can’t control that. I want to be where I can play and be healthy, and hopefully that can be here, I’m here now, but that’s out of my hands.”
The Blazers have said they want to extend you a qualifying offer. Would you accept?
“It hasn’t happened yet. When the time comes, most likely, that hasn’t happened down the line.”
Would it be better to get a fresh start somewhere else?
“Things I haven’t thought about really. I’m really worried about rehab. All that stuff, when it happens, it happens.”
Your facial expression is often blank during games. Is it hard to get emotionally invested given your injury?
“Believe me, I’m a bigger fan of the game than I’ve ever been. Even though I don’t change my look, that’s my frustration, me wanting to be out there.”
Do you feel like you owe the fans anything because you’ve been injured so often?
“I owe them because I got hurt? That’s something I really can’t control. It’s a weird question. I’ve had some bad luck, and I gotta deal with it.”
Does the fact that you’ve been hurt before help you cope?
“Doesn’t really do anything. . . . Back then it wasn’t good. Now, it’s not good. I know what to expect, it’s a long process. It’s not fun no matter what.”
Have the injuries caused you to look at life differently because you used to play so much basketball and now you’re not?
“No, I still got my heart, I still want to go out there and play. Really only thing I think about. Still what I want to do. Watch more games. It’s still consuming me, and still what I want to do.”
