One time we talked about, I want to bring this up, Greg Oden, because I've seen a video on Instagram and it was just a video of him, I don't know if you've seen it, him walking around and like a lady, an old lady just asked him, "Did you used to play basketball?" And it was like, he said, "I used to," and he was just like, you could just see how sad he was.

Yeah, I seen that. But me and you have talked about Greg Oden and how good and dominant he actually was, like even in the practices with you, he was obviously one of the best players, so talk about that dude for a little bit. Yeah, man, Greg, no, I'm glad you even asked me about him, like you said, I always speak about him, but never with much of an audience.

So that's cool of you to even think about him, but you were a reason why I did think of him, because when I got to the Blazers, Greg came in a year after I did, and man, I remember I had just won rickety year, and I think it was Kevin Pitcher was like, "Man, you want to do the draft lottery?" And I was like, "No," because he knows I don't like to fly and travel, especially my off season.

He's like, "Nah, I ain't asking this time. You got to do it. Come on, B. You got to do our good luck charm." And I'm like, "Man, all right, but I'm going to fly there, and I'm going to fly right back." He's like, "All right, done." So I ended up going out there.

And we knew who it was. It was like, if you're number one or two, you're going to take Durant or Oden. But we were going to be like seven, so I was thinking like, "All right, whatever." Man, I get there, and we ended up getting the number one pick.

And I was like, "Oh, man, I am the good luck charm." So I joke around, and to this day, I still got the jersey that they gave that day where Blazers number one pick. I don't know if they know that, but I kept that. I was going through some stuff the other day, and I had seen it.

But we get the number one pick, and people are asking all these questions. Before I went on, our media person was like, "Don't tell anybody who we're picking or who we're leaning." So I give the whole, what do you call it, public answer or whatever they call it. So I ended up getting back to Portland, and I'm thinking like, "Well, who are we going to take?" Because now everybody's texting.

It ain't social media. Everybody's like, "Well, who are you guys going to take, Kevin Durant or Greg Oden?" And everything that I'm going to say about Greg Oden is not taking anything away from Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is, again, he's on that level of guys where my favorites are Jordan, Kobe, Kevin Durant.

He's in that conversation. But Greg Oden, man, when I seen him, and you've got to remember, this is a different NBA now. You still post up, you still play with the big. So long story short, we end up drafting Greg, and we're having these workouts, and we're doing football stuff, and we're out in the field.

Man, we was doing 100 yard down and backs, and Greg and Marcus are winning, and these dudes are the tallest players on the team. He could run. He could run. And then when we got in the open gym, whoever's team Greg was on was going to win, because you know how it is.

It's like, man, we're all good, but it comes down to those couple plays here and there, and Greg can defend better than just about anybody, and then he can get offensive rebounds. He kept every ball alive. So I was like, "Man," and I remember I called my dad, and he was like, "How good is he?" I was like, "We could win a championship." For the first time in my life, playing with him, I was like, "We could win a championship.

He was that good." And I'm not saying we could win that year, but having him on the team, we had everything we needed to win a championship, because he filled a lot of those holes. And I was like, "Man, he was that good." Once he got comfortable in games, I was telling Nate, I'm like, "I don't know.

I'm kind of bored, because Greg does so much." Even defensively, I'm guarding dudes, and our help defense don't have to really help, because he helps everything. So I started learning. I'm like, "Okay, so I'm going to leak out." I started getting more transition stuff, because I'm like, "Greg's going to get the board." And offensively, he gets tips.

He just tips. It doesn't matter. He's pushing dudes, just tipping the ball, keeping plays alive. We got second chance points, and I was like, "Man, he made the game so damn easy." And the markers have to figure out how to play with them, because even when you get post touches, they're doubling, so we're more open, and we're not used to being open.

We're used to having to carry the load to win games, and now we're winning games more comfortably. So, no, he was a special player, and I hate when people try to say stuff, "A bust." He was injured, but if he was never injured, there's no way in hell he was a bust.

He had a hall of fame talent. That kid was good. He could shoot free throws with his left hand. He shoot 'em with his right. He had everything, and I just wish the world would have got a chance to see that. He was that good. He was that good.

He was an even better person. He'd have loved to be his teammate. Cool as a fan, man. Best dude. I'm telling you, man. We were in Vegas. I went to Summer League, and like I said, I had just won Rookie of the Year. I played really well, and man, we were all down there playing the little dollar slots clowning around.

People were coming up to us. Man, Greg came down to the lobby. Man, it was mayhem. I was like, "We got the league." Security was like, "We're just gonna take you guys back to your rooms," 'cause people just went that crazy. I was like, "Damn, he's that big." It was real special to see Greg again.

Kevin Durant has blossomed to ... He's one of the best players to ever play the game, and Greg Olton was right there with him. Again, like I said, even then it was no who's better. They're both gonna be great players. It's just a matter of who you're gonna take, and that's what made it like, "Man, I just hate that the world couldn't see him at that Kevin Durant level," 'cause they would probably still be rivaling each other, you know what I mean, going at it, 'cause he could protect that basket, Kevin Durant could stretch the court, so I thought they had that kind of