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Kevin Durant and Greg Oden will always be connected in NBA history, and the Golden State Warriors superstar insisted on Sunday the former center was not a bust.
"Nonsense," Durant said, per Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. "That's nonsense. 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...he got injured, and that was unfortunate. But when he did play, he was a force. Protecting the paint."
Durant's comments came after Oden told Outside the Lines he'll "be remembered as the biggest bust in NBA history," according to Haynes.
It may seem strange to NBA fans who have watched Durant blossom into one of the best players in recent history, but there was a time when Oden was seen as the safer of the two prospects in the 2007 draft.
Oden led Ohio State to the national championship game alongside teammate Mike Conley, with the Buckeyes losing to Joakim Noah, Al Horford and the Florida Gators. Durant was a pure scorer who averaged 25.8 points per night in his one season at Texas, but the Longhorns lost by 19 points to USC in their second tournament game.
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Oden with the No. 1 overall pick with the hope he would develop into the next impact center at the NBA level. The Seattle SuperSonics took Durant at No. 2, and Haynes said "the debates about who would go No. 1 were minimal. Oden was viewed as a future Hall of Fame big man, the next coming of Shaquille O'Neal."
Haynes also pointed out this isn't the first time the Trail Blazers missed out on a generational talent in favor of a big man. They elected to draft Sam Bowie with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1984 draft, which meant the Chicago Bulls were left with North Carolina guard Michael Jordan, who only went on to become the best player in NBA history.
As for Oden, injuries limited him to just 105 appearances in his entire career. He missed his rookie season after knee surgery, and Portland waived him in 2012 after additional surgeries.
He played 23 games for the Miami Heat in 2013-14 as a member of the team that reached the NBA Finals and lost to the San Antonio Spurs, but he averaged just 2.9 points per night.
Durant surpassed Oden long ago and is a seven-time All-Star, four-time scoring champ and was named MVP in 2014.
He became a member of the Golden State Warriors in the summer after one season in Seattle and eight with the Oklahoma City Thunder after the franchise moved in 2008. He is playing on a loaded squad that also features Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
The Warriors have an NBA title and two Finals appearances in the last two years and are the favorites to win the championship this season, per Odds Shark. If they deliver on those expectations, it would only broaden the divide between the two divergent careers of Oden and Durant.