Fabricio Oberto announces retirement
Portland Trail Blazers centre Fabricio Oberto announced his sudden retirement on Thursday after being diagnosed with a cardiac condition that is causing heart palpitations.
The 35-year-old veteran centre, Oberto, who was signed by the Trail Blazers during the off-season to shore up their injury-depleted front line, left the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on
Tuesday 2 November when he experienced dizziness after playing for only four minutes.
"I made this decision to put my health and my family in front of basketball," Oberto said in his official statement. "It was a tough decision to make after playing for so many years, but
it was the right one."
The Argentinian centre, who won an NBA title in 2007 while with the San Antonio Spurs, played sparingly in Portland’s first five games of the season, and averaged only 1.4 points and 1.4
rebounds in nine minutes of action per game.
Oberto, who also helped Argentina bag the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, spent six years in the NBA and averaged 3.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 336 career games played, which includes
128 starts.
Although their team badly needed a big man, Portland head coach understood Oberto’s decision, but admitted that he was shocked when he was informed about the surprised development in their
team. "It wasn't worth the risk of something serious happening," he said.
Oberto was used by Portland as a back-up to defensive-minded big man Marcus Camby, who took over the starting spot after Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla both went down with a season-ending injury
on December 2009.
The Blazers did not give a timetable for Oden’s return, but the team announced that Przybilla will make his season debut on 26 November, and Oberto’s sudden retirement will not push them
to activate Przybilla earlier than expected.
"We just have to be patient, we really do, and not put him at risk," said McMillan, whose team will also be without rookie guard Elliot Williams, who will undergo a surgery after dislocating
his right patella, causing him to miss the entire season.
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