Greg Oden signed a multiyear deal Tuesday to become a spokesman for Topps Co.

A card featuring him and Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics Hall of Famer, on the 50th anniversary of the company's first basketball set will be his first feature.

"Certainly there's been a lot of comparisons to Bill Russell, which we don't run away from,'' said Bill Sanders, a vice president for BDA Sports Management, which represents Oden.

"I think that Greg has got a lot of that in him, but he's also got other skills in him that people don't necessarily associate with Bill Russell. Certainly he's honored to be mentioned in that kind of company. I think one of his goals is to accomplish a little bit of what Bill Russell did.''