During Friday night's telecast of a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers, Blazers center Greg Oden briefly joined broadcasters Mike Barrett and Mike Rice to discuss the progress of his rehabilitation from microfracture knee surgery and his thoughts about the team.
Oden said that he's "still doing two-leg strength, body weight stuff" and that basketball activities are "very far down the road." He added that the date he will be cleared to start running is "over five months away."
Oden underwent microfracture knee surgery on his left knee in late-November, nearly five months ago. If is he cleared for running in five months, that would come in September 2011, roughly 10 months post-surgery. Shortly after his surgery, a Steadman Clinic Orthopaedic Surgeon said Oden would likely be sidelined at least a year.
Here's a transcript of Oden's comments. Questions are paraphrased. Oden's answers are word-for-word.
You've been lifting a lot of weights.
"It's alright. I'm trying to calm down a little bit. They told me I'm getting too big."
Do you miss being able to play?
"I wish I was out there."
Do you think about what you could add against a team like the Lakers?
"Every game. Not just the Lakers. Everybody. Thinking about every play I watch, what I could have did out there and what I could have brought to the team if I was out there."
Update on your rehab. Is it going well?
"Yeah, it is. It'st still really early in it. I'm still doing two-leg strength, body weight stuff. It's still pretty early, you know, I'm not really doing too much where I can really tell."
When will you be cleared for basketball activities?
"Very far down the road. I can say, over five months away. I won't start running until then."
Gerald Wallace
"Yeah, you know, I talk to everybody about it. Just the hustle he brings out there. He just plays harder than everybody else. It's definitely great to have somebody like that on your team, diving for loose balls, going out of bounds, making hustle plays."
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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter