Keeping Oden Connected to Rest of the Team Critical During Rehab

I just woke up and its Friday in Beijing. I am reading about Greg Oden's microfracture surgery and that he is likely lost for the year. I am with Oden's agent Bill Duffy in China for the Steve Nash/Yao Ming charity game and I will try to get a comment from Duffy for this weekend's Portland edition of Sports Business Radio. Its a sad day for Oden the Trail Blazers and the NBA. Oden seems like a really great young man who was looking forward to starting his NBA career. I believe Oden will eventually play in the NBA and come back from knee surgery but I'd be seriously concerned about his mindset in the short term. From people I have spoken with they tell me he will take this news very hard. The best thing that can be done for Oden is to have positive people around him who keep him in the right frame of mind. Amare Stoudemire Zach Randolph and Jason Kidd have all come back after this surgery and there is no reason to thing Oden can't too. But keeping him in the right frame of mind will be critical to the recovery process. And keeping Oden somewhat connected to his new team will also be critical. So many times when a player is undergoing major rehab for an injury the player begins to feel like an outsider. For Oden a 19-year old kid it will be crucial that the Blazers players and coaches make him feel as connected to the team as possible so he doesn't feel like an island during his rehab. I'm getting tons of emails from my disappointed friends in Portland and its a sad day for sure. But I have confidence we'll see Greg Oden on an NBA court before too long and once he gets there he'll be a solid player for the Trail Blazers. In the meantime unfortunately Kevin Pritchard and the Trail Blazers will face a mountain of second guessers who question whether they made the correct decision on draft night and secretly are praying that Oden is not Sam Bowie Part 2.  

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