INDIANAPOLIS — Bankers Life Fieldhouse is where Greg Oden grew up watching the Indiana Pacers. It’s where he helped Lawrence North win three state titles and earned his Indiana Mr. Basketball and Mr. Basketball USA titles in 2006.
It’s where Oden still calls home and the fans Sunday welcomed him back with open arms.
Sunday’s Big 3 action was the first time the former No. 1 draft pick stepped on the floor at Bankers Life since March 26, 2014, when he played against the Pacers as a member of the Miami Heat during his final NBA season.
Oden announced his retirement from basketball in 2016 after a one-year stint in the Chinese Basketball Association. His only other playing experience came last summer during The Basketball Tournament 2018 – a $2 million winner-take-all single elimination tournament.
Following the Aliens' 10-point loss Sunday in Ice Cube’s 3-on-3, halfcourt league, where Oden finished with eight points and six rebounds, he was asked about his perspective being able to play basketball again.
He paused.
“I saw my daughter walk down the stairs with my wife and it put a big smile on my face,” he said. “That’s my perspective. All this stuff is just extra.”
Quite a bit has changed for Oden in the past three years.
He’s stayed close to the game, finishing a stint as a student coach for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, who he helped lead to a national championship game appearance in 2007, earlier this year. He graduated, earning his degree in sports industry in May. He had his first child, Londyn, in 2016, and married his wife Sabrina in 2017.
Oden climbed his way out of alcoholism and has worked on his physical and mental health. That’s why, even after playing basketball against professional-level competition for the first time in years, he took some time to reflect.
“It’s more about my mind and perspective of life and what I’m doing and what I spent most of my time with. That’s what’s changed for me,” Oden said. “I started thinking on the up and up and being better in the mental space a couple of years ago.”
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