Victor Oladipo: ‘The world kind of forgot about me’

That was the path Oladipo was on not so long ago; a path toward greatness. An injury and a surgery that didn’t quite work out sent him in another direction. He lost his star power and the size of his contract. He changed jerseys and agents and his outlook. But he thinks he can get all that back as he helps the Heat. “The game, the world, kind of forgot about me,” he said. “It tests your faith. It tests you as a person and it helps you realize how strong you truly are.”
Source: Joe Vardon @ The Athletic

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Joe Vardon @joevardon
Victor Oladipo was becoming one of the best players in the NBA. Then disaster struck, stretching way beyond injuries. ‘The world forgot about me,’ he said. Vic wants to make us all remember, ⁦@The Athletic⁩
theathletic.com/3179546/2022/0… – 10:11 AM

Victor Oladipo @VicOladipo
Different jersey, same VO. #MiamiMashup pic.twitter.com/PsSBI3dVBW – 6:35 PM

Victor Oladipo @VicOladipo
I’m not hacked…I’m trying to keep in touch with y’all. – 5:31 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
From earlier — Pause for Heat’s Victor Oladipo not a problem but merely practicing prudence. sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-h… – 5:29 PM

Victor Oladipo @VicOladipo
HMU 202-858-3755 – 5:01 PM

Marc J. Spears @MarcJSpears
Heat say Jimmy Butler (toe), Caleb Martin (knee) & Victor Oladipo (rest) have all been ruled out of tonight’s game vs the Wolves. – 2:22 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Heat injury report for tonight vs. ‘Wolves:
Jimmy Butler (toe): out
Victor Oladipo (rest): out.
Caleb Martin (knee): out.
Markieff Morris (reconditioning): out.
Javonte Smart (G League): out.
Kyle Guy (G League): out. – 2:15 PM

Dane Moore @DaneMooreNBA
Jimmy Butler (toe irritation) is OUT tonight against Minnesota
Miami will be thin on the wing with Victor Oladipo (knee injury recovery) and Caleb Martin (hyperextended knee) both also out against Minnesota – 1:32 PM

Brady Hawk @BradyHawk305
Jimmy Butler, Victor Oladipo, Caleb Martin all out tonight vs Wolves – 1:28 PM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
Heat injury report for tonight’s game vs. Timberwolves:
Victor Oladipo (knee injury recovery) out
Caleb Martin (hyperextended knee) out
Jimmy Butler (toe irritation) out
Markieff Morris (return to competition reconditioning) out
Javonte Smart and Kyle Guy also out – 1:27 PM

Barry Jackson @flasportsbuzz
Butler, Oladipo, Martin, Markieff M all out tonight for Heat against Wolves. – 1:21 PM

Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds
Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin, Victor Oladipo, Markieff Morris all out tonight for Heat. – 1:20 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Pause for Heat’s Victor Oladipo not a problem but merely practicing prudence. sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-h… Erik Spoelstra, “This is just a matter of I’m not going to try to fast track this. This is going to be about us tempering the expectations.” – 12:16 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Sunday notes on a Saturday: Does a trap door await Heat in opening round of NBA playoffs? sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-h… Plus: Booker, Richardson, Stauskas, Oladipo, Highsmith, more. – 9:01 AM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
Victor Oladipo will not play tomorrow vs. Timberwolves on the second night of a back-to-back. – 10:55 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Erik Spoelstra said Victor Oladipo will not play Saturday vs. Timberwolves. – 10:55 PM

Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds
Victor Oladipo won’t play tomorrow. – 10:55 PM

Brady Hawk @BradyHawk305
Can I say it again:
Victor Oladipo as a help defender is really something – 9:55 PM

Ira Winderman @IraHeatBeat
Oladipo back in. – 9:50 PM

Brady Hawk @BradyHawk305
Oladipo had to say thank you to Lowry again after that needle threader – 8:50 PM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
Max Strus drills two threes, then Kyle Lowry finds Victor Oladipo for a transition layup. Heat ahead by 12. – 8:50 PM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
Victor Oladipo’s minutes again coming alongside Tyler Herro and Kyle Lowry. Most of Oladipo’s minutes since his return have come with Herro and Lowry. – 8:46 PM

Tim Reynolds @ByTimReynolds
With Victor Oladipo playing tonight and Caleb Martin not, have to wonder if that switches tomorrow on the second night of a back to back. – 8:34 PM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
Victor Oladipo in the game with 2:53 left in the first quarter. – 8:32 PM

Anthony Chiang @Anthony_Chiang
This week’s Heat Check podcast with @DBWilson2: The Victor Oladipo episode! miamiherald.com/sports/nba/mia…
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hea… – 10:27 AM

More on this storyline

All of that is coming, Oladipo said, now that he is healthy. In his knee and his head. “I know when I’m right and I’m 100 percent physically what I’m capable of doing, so I don’t have to worry about anything but getting healthy,” Oladipo said. “I still plan on being really, really, really good at this game and I still plan on being one of the greats.” -via The Athletic / March 14, 2022

So when Oladipo finally returned to the court for the Heat last week, after nearly 11 months away from games, he wasn’t merely returning from another quadriceps surgery. He was coming back after a nasty fall from grace. “It did affect me, going through all of those things,” Oladipo said last week, in an extended interview with The Athletic. “Feeling like people kind of wrote me off, and feeling like people are kind of being weird, moving weird around me as a person. It was just weird, and I didn’t help myself either. I had to change the people I was around, who I was letting represent me. I had to change who I was letting manage my life. I had to change a whole bunch of stuff.” -via The Athletic / March 14, 2022

Barry Jackson: Oladipo just mentioned that after first knee injury in 2019, he felt he had “a permanent knife” in his knee. That’s how limiting it was. No longer. Knee felt good first couple days since his Monday season debut. -via Twitter @flasportsbuzz / March 10, 2022