http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2931319
Portland-area hospitals may wish to stock up on ice cream for the arrival of a very big patient.
The Portland Trail Blazers will shut down rookie center Greg Oden's summer league season after two games so the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft can have his tonsils removed, The Oregonian of Portland reported.
There's no excuses, because I was out there playing. And if I'm playing, I'm playing, so if I have a bad game, it's not on my tonsils, it's on me.
Greg Oden
According to the report, the team has decided Oden's swollen tonsils need to come out in the next three-to-four days because they are obstructing his breathing, which in turn is limiting his stamina.
"Right now, it's more of a thing that they are so big, that when I'm running up and down the court, it's hard for me to breathe," Oden said Monday after scrimmages with the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, The Oregonian reported. "I can't get any air in there."
While a final decision on surgery has yet to be made, it appears likely Oden will have the procedure done late this week, after taping the ESPY awards show in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the newspaper reported. According to the team and Oden's camp, he is expected to recover in about two weeks.
Oden had struggled in his two summer league appearances, fouling out of his first game and scoring 13 points in the second. But he did not use his tonsils -- which team general manager Kevin Pritchard said are the size of golf balls -- as a crutch for his performance.
"There's no excuses, because I was out there playing," Oden said, according to The Oregonian. "And if I'm playing, I'm playing, so if I have a bad game, it's not on my tonsils, it's on me. A lot of it is I just have to get used to this game, that's what everyone is telling me."
Portland-area hospitals may wish to stock up on ice cream for the arrival of a very big patient.
The Portland Trail Blazers will shut down rookie center Greg Oden's summer league season after two games so the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft can have his tonsils removed, The Oregonian of Portland reported.
Greg Oden
According to the report, the team has decided Oden's swollen tonsils need to come out in the next three-to-four days because they are obstructing his breathing, which in turn is limiting his stamina.
"Right now, it's more of a thing that they are so big, that when I'm running up and down the court, it's hard for me to breathe," Oden said Monday after scrimmages with the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, The Oregonian reported. "I can't get any air in there."
While a final decision on surgery has yet to be made, it appears likely Oden will have the procedure done late this week, after taping the ESPY awards show in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the newspaper reported. According to the team and Oden's camp, he is expected to recover in about two weeks.
Oden had struggled in his two summer league appearances, fouling out of his first game and scoring 13 points in the second. But he did not use his tonsils -- which team general manager Kevin Pritchard said are the size of golf balls -- as a crutch for his performance.
"There's no excuses, because I was out there playing," Oden said, according to The Oregonian. "And if I'm playing, I'm playing, so if I have a bad game, it's not on my tonsils, it's on me. A lot of it is I just have to get used to this game, that's what everyone is telling me."
