The rumors had been circulating for several days, now Greg Oden (photo ©Keith Allison), who hasn’t played a game since 2009, announced that he has signed a contract with the Miami Heat.

Born on January 22, 1988 in Buffalo, New York, Greg Oden has played a year at Ohio State University reaching the the NCAA tournament final in 2007. He was inducted into the Associated Press All-American Team. In June of the same year he became the first overall pick in the NBA draft, selected by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Greg Oden’s professional career was limited by injuries even before it started. A serious injury to his right knee during the preseason forced him to undergo surgery and caused him to miss the entire season. For this reason, when he finally was able to play at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season, he was considered a rookie.

In his first game as a pro, Greg Oden injured his foot and skipped two weeks. On his return, he finally managed to play with some continuity but on February 13, 2009 he injured his left knee and skipped three weeks.

The 2009-2010 season had more bad luck because on December 5, 2009 Greg Oden injured his left knee again and had to undergo another surgery losing the rest of the season.

On November 17, 2010, when Greg Oden was about to come back, a new medical check-up revealed a problem with the cartilage in his left knee. Therefore the player had to undergo another surgery that made him miss the entire season.

At the beginning of the 2011-2012 season, the Portland Trail Blazers announced that Greg Oden had manifested unspecified setbacks in his rehabilitation. A few months later, the player had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee but further damage to the cartilage was found that led to a new surgery. On 15 March 2012, the Blazers waived Greg Oden.

In May 2012, Greg Oden would announced that he’d remained inactive for the next season to try to heal and then try to find another team to play with. Recently, there had been rumors of various NBA teams interested in him and eventually his signing with the Miami Heat arrived.

Obviously, the huge question mark on Greg Oden concerns his ability to play with continuity. Coach Erik Spoelstra told him clearly that he won’t be needed as much early in the season so he can properly prepare and take some time to get in the team.

The Miami Heat want to win another NBA title and a center with Greg Oden’s potential may be helpful. For them, the risk is limited because his contract is for the minimum wage for a veteran: it’s still a bit more than $1 million but for an NBA team that’s not much. For Oden instead this is very probably the last chance to have a professional career.

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