Victor Oladipo has one of the saddest stories in the modern NBA in terms of injuries right as he was hitting his stride as a star in the league. When he was on the Indiana Pacers, Oladipo became a two-time All-Star from 2017 to 2019, but an injury to his quadriceps tendon saw him struggle for the next 2 years, bouncing around from Indiana to Houston to Miami. He has remained optimistic though, suggesting earlier in the season that he wants to be ‘the comeback story of the year’.
Oladipo recently made his return from injury for the Miami Heat, playing in March, 333 days after his last NBA game before that time. The long and slow process of recovering from major injuries only to get injured again has taken a toll on Oladipo, with questions being asked about his ability to play at the highest level again. But the man himself is in no doubt about his capabilities, explaining as much to The Ringer.
“I’m still that guy,” said Oladipo, who made third-team All-NBA in 2018. “Now I just got to get my body back to feeling like it’s at an All-Star level, which takes time. I have no doubt in my mind that I can… This is a rebirth for me.”
Oladipo, who has been on the All-NBA Third Team and the All-Defensive First Team during his career has the potential to play at an incredibly high level, although returning to that at 29 years of age will be quite the tough task. The window on his prime will start closing in a couple of years, and getting his body up to that level will be no easy task either.
The Miami Heat are the right team for him to make that happen though, the Heat have a solid culture and an excellent team, they’re currently 1st in the Eastern Conference. If they can get Oladipo anywhere close to the level he was at before his injury issues, another Finals run isn’t out of the question for Miami at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv-GvXi8S7w
