.．.很快，麦克米兰就会花上几个晚上的时间来指导开拓者在没有他的情况下如何应对，而不是教他的球队中锋如何在低位打球。最终，他的日常生活常常需要通过抑郁症咨询与奥登一起工作。有时波特兰的篮球工作人员会通过咨询来更好地帮助奥登从他自己的训练中获益。“我们只是试着去做所有我们认为需要做的事情，”麦克米兰说。“但我们也觉得他需要一些外部帮助。我们与他的经纪人、前教练、导师、老迈克·康利、他的家人合作……想弄清楚什么是最好的。我们只是试着把所有我们觉得能帮上忙的人都请来。”他还尝试。 McMillan, now a Pacers assistant, said he's maintained contact with Oden and has been among those advising him to resume studies at Ohio State to work toward a degree once his issues are settled. The Buckeyes' campus once provided a comfort zone during Oden's time away from the NBA as he took classes and worked on his conditioning to resume his playing career. "There's a point in a professional player's career where you have to start thinking about life after basketball," McMillan said. "For Greg, it started a couple of years ago. But certainly now, he's got to think about, 'Hey, what am I going to do?'"