Bowie 2.0

Everyone knows the saying we avoid making future mistakes by learning from the history. Apparently, the Portland Trail Blazers need to catch up on their history because as it seems they did not learn from the 1984 NBA Draft. If you were unsure on the exact happenings of this draft that occurred 23 years ago, then simply reading recent news about Portland Trail Blazers rookie center Greg Oden would clear everything up for you.


In 1984, the Trail Blazers had the second overall draft pick. After Olajuwon was taken, Portland had two top prospects: Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan. Of course, the Trail Blazers took Bowie over Jordan and the rest is history. Bowie's first four years at Portland was plagued with injuries. Now, in 2007 it seems as if the past is roaring back with a vengeance. Oden, the number one NBA draft pick coming out of Ohio will miss his entire rookie season. Things are starting off poorly for the seven-foot tall center who has experienced injuries before he was ever drafted but things intensified after that draft day in June.

For whatever reason, the Trail Blazers decided not to pay attention to him missing a few games while at Ohio State. They decided that it was not that big of a deal that he needed surgery to remove his tonsils and to repair his wrist. The Trail Blazers also seemed to accept the fact that he had to pull out of the Olympic tryouts due to exhaustion. Well, they cannot disregard Oden's injuries anymore. He is only a 19 year old rookie and already he walks around as if he had a long career and is now retired. The only positive for the Trail Blazers and Oden at this point is that he is able to take a year off and possibly take some of the pressure off. The other advantage is that with the injury to Oden, the Trail Blazers will almost certainly be in the same situation as last year and possibly have a top draft pick. Maybe when Oden returns and have a new draft pick, the Trail Blazers may be able to begin to build a better team.