Former Ohio State Center Greg Oden was arrested earlier this week after allegedly punching his girlfriend in the face 3 times. Reportedly, the former teammate of LeBron James had broken up with his girlfriend, but they were out drinking together and when they went home together, things got heated and he allegedly punched her. He had pled not guilty to a felony count of battery, and two misdemeanor counts.
Oden, who has seen limited action in the NBA after a standout career at Ohio State, played with the Miami Heat last year on their failed quest to capture a third consecutive NBA Championship. Before that he had an injury-plagued stint with the Portland Trailblazers.
Oden was with a woman described as his ex-girlfriend earlier this week when things got violent (via ESPN):
"Oden told officers he and the woman had dated for about two years but split up two months ago. According to the report, he said he was arguing with his ex-girlfriend when 'things got out of control' and he struck her as he swung his arms to try to break free of two people who were trying to hold him back."
Her side of the story, obviously, is different. According to her he definitely meant to hit her, connecting vicious closed-fist blows to her left eye, forehead and nose (via TMZ):
"She says the shot to her forehead opened a gash from which she started bleeding -- and Greg stopped attacking once he saw the blood. The victim was hospitalized and had to get 3 stitches between her eyebrows, and suffered a broken nose."
There definitely seem to be conflicting accounts of not only the incident itself, but of the nature of their relationship as well. Friends say Oden was angry that the woman was cheating on him, whereas other reports indicate they were split up.
It doesn't really matter whether they were together or not. If he attacked her there is no excuse. Let's not go Stephen A. Smithing this thing up.
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