It was exhausting for NBA alum Greg Ogden to look at different gamers’ salaries soar proper after his retirement.
“The yr I retired was the yr that Timofey Mozgov — no disrespect — received that fifty mil [contract with the Los Angeles Lakers], and I wished to kill all people within the f—ing world,” Ogden, 36, mentioned throughout a latest look on Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller’s “The OGs” podcast. “I hated life, I used to be depressed. In the event that they threw him 50 mil, I’m like, ‘All I must do is be on the group. That’s 20 [million] straightforward.’”
Mozgov’s 2016 four-year contract with the Lakers, which was really a $64 million deal, drew widespread criticism on the time as some folks felt his stats didn’t justify the large payday. The controversial contract got here simply after the NBA introduced the league’s wage cap had been raised by greater than $24.1 million from the earlier season, a report enhance. The timing was a blow for Ogden, who introduced his retirement from the game that very same yr.
“It hurts my coronary heart proper now. I nonetheless really feel a bit of empty once I discuss it. Like, no disrespect, Timofey, however goddamn, y’all may’ve thrown me one other 20 [million],” Ogden mentioned. “Actually the following yr after I retired.”
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Ogden, who was chosen first general within the 2007 NBA draft, went on to spotlight the discrepancies between Mozgov’s wage and his personal compensation.
“I performed six years, I most likely made about 24 mil [total],” he mentioned. “And I minimize that s—t in half reason for taxes.”
Miller, 44, then identified how a lot gamers of Ogden’s caliber receives a commission as we speak.
“No. 1 [draft] picks now [are getting] 55, 60 [million],” the Miami Warmth alum mentioned.
Regardless of his frustration, Ogden mentioned he has no beef with Mozgov.
“Shout out to him. Get all the cash you may get, my brother,” he mentioned.
Ogden was one to look at when he was drafted by the Portland Path Blazers in June 2007, however from the start of his NBA profession, accidents interfered along with his skill to play. After present process knee surgical procedure in September 2007, Ogden missed your entire 2007-2008 NBA season. Though he returned for the 2008 season, his knee issues continued at some stage in his tenure with the Path Blazers. When the group launched Ogden in 2012, he had performed simply 82 video games over the course of 5 seasons.
The athlete went on to play for the Miami Warmth for the 2013-2014 season alongside Miller and Haslem, 44, earlier than leaving the NBA to play for the Jiangsu Dragons. After one season with the Chinese language Basketball Affiliation group, Ogden introduced that he was retiring.
Ogden described himself because the “largest bust in NBA historical past” throughout a 2017 interview with ESPN. He stood by the descriptor throughout his latest look on “The OGs.”
“As soon as I mentioned it, lots of people got here out and [were] like, ‘No, he’s not,’ however on the time, I used to be a No. 1 decide, I received injured on a regular basis, I hardly ever performed,” he mentioned. “Technically, if I’m it and [Kevin Durant, the second overall draft pick of 2007] is simply so nice … I’m technically one of many largest busts of all time.”
Ogden has been open about turning to alcohol to deal with the frustration of his career-altering accidents, and has since gotten sober.
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“By the point I received again [from playing in China in 2016], I most likely drank day by day, principally numbed myself to neglect these emotions that it was over,” he mentioned throughout an April 2019 panel dialogue titled “When Sports activities Finish,” per The Columbus Dispatch. “You by no means have a look at the top whilst you’re taking part in, however if you see it, oh gosh, it’s like, ‘Did I put together?’ I used to be caught off-guard. I might get up and marvel what to do. I’d go work out and never know what I used to be going to do tonight. It was an entire lot of loss for me.”
Ogden added that getting sober had allowed him to give attention to his daughter, Londyn, whom he and his spouse, Sabrina, welcomed in 2016.
“My time that I loved partying is now spent with my 2-year-old child woman,” he mentioned on the time.
