Are Greg Oden Dirty Pictures From an Angry Ex or a Publicity Stunt?

For those who have not been paying attention to all the craziness coming out of the NBA lately, there seems to be some question as to whether or not Greg Oden's dirty pictures were released as some sort of publicity stunt or as the result of a scorned former girlfriend's attempt at payback. What the star center of the Portland Trailblazers would hope to get out of self-posting the shots, a series of three nude photos, is anyone's guess. What a scorned ex-girlfriend of Greg Oden's would get by posting the dirty pictures is easily guessed: gratuitous revenge.

Greg Oden's dirty pictures surfaced on WorldStarHipHop.com on Tuesday. They showed the number one 2007 NBA draft pick in all his glory, standing before a mirror and taking photos of his naked form with a cell phone. Oden held a press conference Tuesday evening and apologized for the existence of the pictures.

"First, I'd like to apologize to everybody ... Portland, the fans, the organization. It was very embarrassing. It was something that happened over a year and a half ago.

Oden went on to explain: "It was a lady friend who I was having a relationship with, and it was just for her. It was definitely meant to keep private. I'm very sorry, and I'm definitely embarrassed for my family and everybody."

The 7-foot-tall center said that he's learned from the experience and that he has matured since then. Oden is 22.

Greg Oden's dirty pictures, whether they were posted as some self-promoting stunt (as Michael Holley at Green Street puts it, paraphrasing NBA great Larry Bird, "OK, the rest of us are playing for second place") or as an ex-girlfriend's revenge, are simply the latest in what seems to be a neverending series of celebrities taking nude photos of themselves, sending them to a friend, then finding said nude photos posted online sometime later (usually after the friend has become unfriendly). Teen celebrity Vanessa Hudgens saw nude photos she had taken of herself for her boyfriend posted online twice. Actress Adrienne Bailon of Disney's "Cheetah Girls" found semi-nude pictures she had taken of herself in front of a mirror for her boyfriend stolen from her laptop and posted online. Both actresses apologized (Hudgens apologized twice) and continued with their careers.

There doesn't seem to be a month that goes by without some celebrity finding nude photos of themselves online. As soon as they're up and showing, the victimized (?) celebrity issues an apology and the blogosphere runs hot with searches for a few days, the victim gets massive publicity, and the nude photos episode fades.

Until the next one...

Still, Greg Oden's dirty pictures aren't the only sports celebrity dirty pictures to hit the internet, either. At the end of November, Cleveland Indians all-star Grady Sizemore apologized for nude photos he had taken of himself for his girlfriend, Playboy Playmate Brittany Binger, that made it to the Internet. In one photo, he flashed the picture holding a teacup in front of his private area. Sizemore, who claimed that the Brittany Binger's e-mail account had been hacked into, threatened litigation against whoever was responsible.

Greg Oden has been sidelined for the rest of the 2009-2010 season after sustaining a broken kneecap in December.

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Sources:

Greenstreet.weei.com
Zennie2005.blogspot.com
NYDailyNews.com