Greg Oden contemplated retirement before turning 25

When Greg Oden checked into the Miami Heat's game against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 16, over four years had passed since the first overall pick from the 2007 NBA Draft had played in a regular-season game.

It goes without saying, but four years is a significant portion of a professional athlete's career, particularly when you're only 26 years old and have already undergone three microfracture surgeries on your knees.

So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Oden told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he considered retiring before the age of 25.

"It was a long four years," Oden said. "But now I'm back, I'm healthy and I'm just happy to be doing it."

Oden, who is currently on a one-year contract that pays him $884,293, has averaged 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds over 7.3 minutes in the four games he's played this season.