Andrew Bynum vs. Greg Oden: Who Would Be the Better Center Minus Injuries?
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum and Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden share a few similar traits, such as relative youth, size, status as franchise centers and their unfortunate reputation as injury-plagued players who have yet to fulfill their potential.
Bynum is a year older than Oden, but his decision to enter the NBA early means he also has a few more years of court experience.
In fact, compared to Bynum, Oden may as well be a rookie because leg injuries have not allowed anyone to see what type of player Oden could be over any significant period of time.
Injuries have haunted Oden since before he was ever granted the chance to play an NBA minute, and the gorilla on his back has reduced his court time to 13 games in three seasons and 299 total minutes played.
During that brief period Oden did manage to average 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game and shoot 54 percent from the field, but the small window of time diminishes those numbers.
There is no way to discern if Oden would have been able to maintain his double-digit scoring pace if he were never injured, but he was already a little bit ahead of the game as far as defense is concerned.
Once upon a time Oden was envisioned as the NBA's next great defensive center, and he had the size, quickness and natural shot-blocking ability to back up the talk.
Oden's offensive talents were raw, and he was not a reliable scorer more than three feet from the basket, but his 7'0", 285-pound frame afforded him the opportunity to be an impact player on defense while honing his offensive skills.
The Lakers used a lottery pick to draft Bynum fresh out of high school, and although he was not as highly regarded as Oden at the same age, Bynum was more fundamentally skilled on each side of the court.
Bynum entered the NBA at the ripe old age of 17, but unlike Oden, Bynum already had developed a decent offensive game.
Bynum has all of Oden's size and natural gifts, and he also understood the value of a strong drop-step move in the paint.
It didn't hurt that Bynum was able to learn the nuances of the center position from Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is arguably the best player to ever roam the middle of the paint.
There is no question that Bynum has had a more productive career than Oden despite battling his own spate of leg injuries, but would the same hold true if fate had charted a different course for each player?
Who would be the better center right now if both Oden and Bynum had managed to avoid the injuries that have crippled them thus far?
A reasonable argument can be crafted for each player, and although Oden may hold an advantage when it comes to defense, Bynum would likely still be considered a better player because his game is more complete.
Bynum may not have the same defensive reputation as Oden, but he is just as effective, and although he is not known as a natural shot-blocker, Bynum still averages more career blocks per game than Oden.
Sorry, Blazers fans, but if there is any debate about the talents and abilities of Bynum versus Oden, they end once the conversation shifts to the offensive end of the floor.
Bynum's low-post offensive game is much more advanced than Oden's, and a career free of injuries would not change that.
Blazers fans may never get an idea of how much Oden could really mean to their franchise if he were ever healthy, and even though Lakers fans can scream about Bynum's injuries themselves, at least he has given them a snapshot of what could be.
