Around NBA draft time, circa 1998, Michael Olowokandi “The Kandi Man” was often described as a “supremely gifted athlete in a 7 footer’s body”. Fast forward nearly 10 years to NBA draft time 2007, and you hear Steve Kerr describe Greg Oden as a “once-in-a-decade player.” Today, Greg Oden is scheduled to undergo exploratory surgery. While it’s anyone’s guess what the result will be, it’s easy for some to imagine Oden’s career tumbling into the same abyss that Olowokandi fell into.

Now before anyone from Portland puts a contract on my life, let me make one thing clear: Oden is 10 times the player that Kandi was. No doubt that Oden is a step above – look at the facts. Oden has played basketball successfully since 7th grade. Kandi didn’t start playing until he was 17. Oden’s skill level is vastly superior to Kandi’s skills at the same age — according to Kandi’s college coach “he didn’t know where the ‘block’ was…how to make a chest pass…it was like coaching a 3rd grader.” Certainly there are a 1000 differences between Oden and Olowokandi, and like I said, Oden is 10 times the player that Olowokandi was.

But I can’t help but notice the similarities:

1. Both 7′ footers. Kandi weighed 265 lbs at draft time, Oden weighed 257 lbs. I know, I know, spooky.

2. Both had similar college performances. Oden averaged 20 and 10.5 in his only season, Kandi averaged 22 and 11 in his best campaign. Both of them played in the NCAA tourney too.

3. Both were drafted with known injuries — Oden’s right wrist, Kandi’s left knee.

4. Both were drafted ahead of talented scorers — Oden was drafted ahead of Kevin Durant, Kandi ahead of Vince Carter. While we all know that VC would have been a better pick, will we be saying that in 9 years about Durant? It’s a strong possibility.

5. Both were expected to lead their lottery teams to greatness. Olowokandi was supposed to make the Clippers a contender (oops!), just like Oden is supposed to make Portland a contender.

6. Both are considered intelligent. Kandi, the son of a Nigerian diplomat, attended London’s Brunei University for two years before recruiting himself to the University of the Pacific. Oden was interested in becoming a dentist – you have to be smart to do that, right?

7. Both have nicknames with the word “man” in them — Olowokandi aka “The Kandi Man” and Oden aka “Manchild” (theme music from the Twilight Zone should be playing in your mind right now).

8. Both were setup by the media to fail. Everyone likes to get excited about the next big thing, but this is too much pressure to put on someone who would still be in college were it not for their size and talent.

Frankly, you can take the first 7 similarities and throw them out the window. They’re really not important to my point (but I hope they made you laugh). The real point here, as we wait to hear how bad Oden’s knee really is, is this:

Greg Oden is NOT a savior. He’s just a 7′ rookie basketball player with a lot of potential.

We can’t lose sight of the big picture — Oden is human. He can get hurt. He can disappoint. If the news from the surgery is not good, Oden’s star is going to shine just a little less than it did before, and that would be unfortunate.

I hope that this realization acts as some sort of redemption for the Kandi man. Had he been drafted even 2nd, he wouldn’t have the distinction of being considered one of the worst draft picks of all time. After all, it’s not his fault he was drafted so high. Had Kandi been drafted somewhere in the top 10, his career averages of 8 pts and 6.8 rebounds a game wouldn’t be looked on so poorly.

I’m not saying that Oden is the next Olowokandi. I’m not saying that Oden can’t lead Portland to a championship. All I’m saying is that no one should get too excited about a rookie. Let’s give him a chance to grow and not put such an unreasonable expectation on someone so young. That’s the only way we know that Oden won’t become the next Kandi man.