Greg Oden Comments on NBA Career, Domestic Battery Charge and More

Greg Oden acknowledged in an interview with the Indianapolis Star's Dana Hunsinger Benbow that he has given up any hope of a return to the NBA.

Knee injuries derailed Oden's professional career. Although he spent only one year with the Ohio State Buckeyes before making the jump, Oden said he would have followed the same path to the NBA: "I wouldn't say I regret anything. I would say I just wish I did things better."

He added, "I'm still trying to figure out my life. Since I've been in fourth grade, all I've known was basketball. I'm just trying to better myself and work on my degree and set something up for the future of my family."

In one of the more famous draft misfires, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Oden instead of Kevin Durant with the No. 1 overall pick in 2007.

After sitting out his rookie year, Oden played 82 games between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns, averaging 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per night. He then missed the next three seasons as a result of persistent knee problems. The Blazers waived him in March 2012.

Oden attempted a comeback with the Miami Heat in 2013-14. He appeared in 23 games, and the Heat opted against bringing him back for the 2014-15 season.

In August 2014, authorities in Lawrence, Indiana, arrested Oden after he allegedly struck his former girlfriend. He reached a plea deal with the prosecutor in which he agreed to complete domestic violence counseling and attend Alcoholics Anonymous classes.

Oden didn't speak with Benbow in depth about the incident, saying he's "trying to move on and make a new life for himself and his family." He wished he could have "done some things better" in the past.

In April, Oden returned to Ohio State to complete his college degree and began working as a student manager with the basketball team.

"Getting him back in the program, getting him back in school, Greg's as happy as I've seen him right now," Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta said in April, per the Columbus Dispatch's Adam Jardy. "Very excited to have him around. He's very, very knowledgeable. He's great with people. I think it will be great for our program to have him around."