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Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers is, once again, having an All-Star caliber season, leading his team with 19.2 points per game and 5.3 assists, while having them currently slotted as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. While he’s been a rising star in the NBA since the team acquired him in the Paul George trade in the summer of 2017, it appears as if Oladipo’s got his work cut out for him after the unfortunate injury he sustained tonight.
During his team’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Victor Oladipo fell awkwardly while trying to defend a long pass, immediately going down in pain and screaming in agony. For those who can stomach it, here’s the video of Oladipo’s injury — fair warning: his kneecap pops out.
Oladipo goes down with a leg injury and had to be stretchered off. 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/nWMKpClY1d
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) January 24, 2019
The nasty injury led to Victor Oladipo being carted off a few minutes before halftime, and, naturally, caused the NBA community to respond and send their thoughts, once again proving that the league is a brotherhood between players. Take a look at some of the reactions from his fellow hoopers, who were all offering support and a speedy recovery.
🙏🏾‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ @VicOladipo
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 24, 2019
Prayers up @VicOladipo🙏🏽
— Book (@DevinBook) January 24, 2019
Prayers up Vic !! 🙏🏽
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) January 24, 2019
Prayers up for my homie @VicOladipo 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) January 24, 2019
Prayers up @VicOladipo 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
— pascal siakam (@pskills43) January 24, 2019
So sorry to see this happen to Victor Oladipo. Good guy, very good player. The NBA will miss him.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 24, 2019
Dang I hope #VictorOladipo is ok. Didnt look too good but prayers up for a speedy recovery either way. #brotherhood
— Anthony Tolliver (@ATolliver44) January 24, 2019
Prayers up to my brother @VicOladipo 🙏😔
— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) January 24, 2019
Prayers up to @VicOladipo 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) January 24, 2019
Victor Oladipo is an absolutely super guy. A total pro. Hopefully this isn’t as bad as it looks.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) January 24, 2019
Thinking positive thoughts for @VicOladipo, be strong and positive in this moment.. #WeCanRebuildHim
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) January 24, 2019
The #GameTime crew reacts to the news of Victor Oladipo's apparent right knee injury. pic.twitter.com/YYUDenHIaw
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 24, 2019
Victor Oladipo genuinely is one of my favorite people I’ve come across in the NBA. I cannot hope hard enough that he’s OK.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) January 24, 2019
Back to my positive vibes.. everybody pray for @VicOladipo !
— Paul George (@Yg_Trece) January 24, 2019
That last one from Paul George is interesting, because, not only did the two get traded for one another, but George also suffered a hideous knee injury back in 2014 while playing for Team USA, where he ran into the hoop standstill. In George’s case, while it took a few years for him to get fully back to himself, he’s now leading the Oklahoma City Thunder in scoring and has himself in the MVP conversation.
It’s a total blow for the Pacers to see their star player and leader carted off with a serious injury — it all but ends any chances of them going deep into the playoffs this year — but, if there’s one thing we know about Victor Oladipo, it’s that he’s going to outwork everyone to get back to himself, if not better. Remember how he started his offseason training mere hours after being eliminated from the postseason last year?
Here’s to a speedy recovery for Oladipo, because he’s one of the most exciting players to watch in the NBA.
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