When former no. 1 overall pick Greg Oden decided to sign with the Miami Heat yesterday, it didn’t surprise me that much. While many thought that Oden would take his talents elsewhere for a bigger paycheck, I felt the chance to win championships would sway the big man to head to South Beach, Apparently, another player in particular helped sway him as well.
Oden opened up about the decision with Grantland.com, and let it be known that the chance to play with LeBron was just something he couldn’t pass up.
“Obviously the chance to play with the best player in the world and compete for a championship was a big selling point,” Oden told me. “But more than that, what I really liked was how they thought I could really add something to their team. They’ve won back-to-back championships without me, so for them to pursue me as hard as they did meant a lot, especially given all that I’ve gone through.”
With how mightily the Heat struggled with Roy Hibbert in these playoffs, the addition of Oden is a key addition to their squad.
Health is a huge key and we’ll have to wait and see if Oden can make it through an 82 game schedule with a deep playoff run. If he can, I know LeBron & co. are already thinking 3-peat.