Who Was the 2007 First Pick in the NBA Draft and Where Are They Now?

I still remember the summer of 2007 like it was yesterday. The NBA draft that year carried a particular buzz, with sports analysts debating endlessly about which young prospect would transform a franchise. As someone who's followed basketball religiously since my college days, I found myself drawn to the drama surrounding that year's top selection. The question on everyone's mind was straightforward yet loaded with implications: who was the 2007 first pick in the NBA draft and where are they now? Little did we know then how dramatically different each player's journey would unfold.

Portland made Greg Oden that fateful first pick, choosing the Ohio State center over Texas forward Kevin Durant. Looking back, I've always felt this was one of those decisions that seemed right at the time but aged poorly almost immediately. Oden possessed this incredible physical presence - 7 feet tall with a wingspan that seemed to swallow entire offenses. I recall watching his college highlights and thinking he was the second coming of Bill Russell. The Trail Blazers organization and its fans genuinely believed they'd secured their franchise cornerstone for the next decade.

What followed instead was a heartbreaking series of injuries that limited Oden to just 82 games over five seasons with Portland. I remember feeling this profound sense of what might have been every time news broke about another knee surgery. The athleticism that made him so dominant in college never fully translated to the professional level because his body simply wouldn't cooperate. He bounced around the league briefly before retiring in 2016, later completing his degree at Ohio State and recently working as a student manager for the Buckeyes' basketball program. It's one of those tragic sports stories that reminds us how fragile athletic careers can be - all that potential derailed by factors beyond anyone's control.

The narrative becomes particularly fascinating when you contrast Oden's path with Kevin Durant, who went second to Seattle. Durant not only became an MVP and multiple-time scoring champion but continues to excel even now in his mid-30s. I've often wondered how different the NBA landscape might look if Portland had chosen differently. Would Durant have developed into the same superstar in Portland's system? Would Oden's career have unfolded differently in another organization? These are the tantalizing what-ifs that make sports history so compelling to revisit.

This pattern of early draft picks taking wildly divergent paths reminds me of what we're seeing in other sports today. Just look at tennis, where young phenoms emerge with tremendous hype only to face unpredictable career trajectories. Take the recent Wimbledon performance by that 20-year-old Filipina tennis prodigy who pushed Czech world No. 16 Barbora Krejcikova to the limit in a two-hour, 10-minute match before falling, 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, on Tuesday night, concluding her maiden campaign at the prestigious grass-court grand slam. Her performance echoes the early promise we saw in Oden - that breathtaking potential that makes you sit up and take notice, even if the final result doesn't go their way.

What strikes me about these young athletes is how much pressure we place on them from the moment they're drafted or break onto the professional scene. We expect immediate stardom, forgetting that development isn't linear and that circumstances - coaching, team environment, health, personal growth - all play crucial roles in how careers evolve. With Oden specifically, I've come to appreciate that his legacy isn't just about unfulfilled potential but about how athletes navigate adversity. His perseverance through multiple surgeries and his return to complete his education demonstrate qualities that transcend basketball.

Reflecting on that 2007 draft class now, it's clear that being the top pick brings both opportunity and burden. For every LeBron James who meets and exceeds expectations, there are players like Oden whose paths remind us that talent alone doesn't guarantee success. The physical demands of professional sports, combined with the mental fortitude required to handle pressure, create a complex equation that nobody can perfectly solve during draft night. Teams make their best educated guesses, but ultimately, each player's journey remains uniquely their own.

As I watch today's NBA drafts with their analytics-driven approaches and extensive background checks, I can't help but think the human element - luck, timing, resilience - still plays an enormous role in how these stories unfold. The question of who was the 2007 first pick in the NBA draft and where are they now serves as a poignant reminder that athletic careers are narratives in progress, subject to unexpected twists and turns that nobody can fully predict. Oden's story, in particular, stands as a testament to both the fragility and the resilience of professional athletes - a narrative that continues to evolve long after the draft night applause fades away.