PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Trail Blazers
center Greg Oden was one of Barack Obama’s biggest supporters. Literally.
So the 7-footer said he was proud that Obama was sworn in as the nation’s 44th president on Tuesday. Oden, who turns 21 on Thursday, exercised his right to vote for the first time in November “For me, voting for the first time, I feel like I’m a part of this,” he said.
Last season, when his rookie year was postponed because of microfracture surgery on his knee, Oden used his blog to throw his support to Obama.
Oden even spoke by phone with the then-candidate, an avid basketball fan, but the discussion wasn’t about politics. It was about the Trail Blazers and Oden’s haircut at the time, a mohawk. After the conversation, Oden said he did some homework and checked out Obama’s Web site. “Senator Obama is a real person. Sometimes people forget that people in the public eye are real people also. I know I did with him at first,” Oden wrote. Oden, who played at Ohio State for a season and helped the Buckeyes to an appearance in the NCAA championship game, went on to make a campaign ad targeted at Ohio, a key battleground state.
Oden was the top draft pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Playing his delayed rookie season with the Blazers, he is averaging 8.3 points, seven rebounds and 1.09 blocks per game.
Oden scored a career-high 24 points and had 15 rebounds in Portland’s 102-85 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. After the game, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to watch the inauguration live, because he’d probably be sleeping in a bit before practice. However, he was certain he’d catch up. “My cousin, who used to be in the Air Force, told me he did Bush’s inauguration and he was like, `It goes all day,’ ” Oden said.
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