Greg Oden says losing basketball helped him find himself
“It is enough. Don’t get me wrong, I would love $100,000,000 in the bank account. But right now, we got a beautiful home. My daughter just graduated fourth grade. My wife’s doing her thing.”
“When I really had to assess myself, I really started realizing, and I was intentional about this when I retired, trying to figure out who I was. Everything was always about the sport.”
“But then when it was taken away from me, who am I? I didn’t even know what I liked. If I take alcohol and partying out of the equation, and basketball, I’m literally a newborn baby again. So I really sat down and figured out, what are some things that I like?”
“I had to assess myself, and I realized I was a mentor. I really like doing this. I really like talking. I really like helping the younger generation, or even helping others.”
“For the past seven years, I’ve been teaching financial literacy to athletes. I enjoy doing stuff like that.”
“Now I’m trying to get in the public speaking space because my story is not a basketball story. It’s a life story.”
“I’m fulfilled in everything that I’m doing right now, but I know there’s more to come.”
Major cheat code for life: Get organized. Just get your sh*t together, really. Stop creating emergencies for yourself by being all over the place. Pick a direction. Focus. Lock in. Discipline doesn't remove every problem, but it prevents a shocking number of avoidable ones.
Google just made every $50K master's degree look like a scam.
They dropped "Google Skills" - 3,000+ AI courses from DeepMind, Cloud, and Google Education in one platform.
And it's 100% FREE for Google Cloud users.
The same content universities charge $60K for:
- DeepMind's actual AI research training
- 700+ hands-on labs with real cloud environments
- Gemini Code Assist built INTO the learning
- Direct hiring paths at 150+ companies
While everyone's drowning in student debt, smart people are getting:
✓ Skills that actually get you hired
✓ Certificates employers recognize (82% hiring preference)
✓ Zero cost if you have Google Cloud
✓ Or $29/month vs $1,600/month for Udacity
The kicker? 26 million people completed courses BEFORE this consolidation.
You're competing against people learning AI from the team that BUILT Gemini.
How to actually use this (not just browse):
1. Start with "AI Essentials" - no coding required
2. Use the hands-on labs (this is where 90% quit)
3. Get skill badges - they show up on LinkedIn
4. Target Google Cloud certification - top 2 highest paying IT certs
5. Join the 150-company hiring consortium
The education industrial complex is panicking because anyone can now:
→ Learn from DeepMind researchers directly
→ Practice with $500 in free Cloud credits
→ Get hired without a degree
One person's $60K tuition = 2,070 months of Google Skills.
Let that sink in.
Comment "SKILLS" and I'll send you:
✓ The exact learning path that gets you hired fastest
✓ Which certifications actually pay
✓ How to access everything free
Your competition is still applying to universities.
Time to eat their lunch.