INDIANA Pacers All Star guard Victor Oladipo is diagnosed with a ruptured quad tendon and is expected to have right knee surgery that would make him miss the remainder of the season.
Oladipo’s injury was due to their game against the Toronto Raptors where he attempted to intercept an outlet pass to Raptor power forward Pascal Siakam.
The Pacer team management announced Friday, January 25, that Oladipo would have to undergo surgery for the remainder of the 2018-2019 season to allow his injury to fully heal for next season.
Nate Macmillan, the team's head coach, said that he is uncertain when would Oladipo have the surgery or would he be ready for next season.
“It's unfortunate. He's a special player and a special person. It will be tough but we have to continue to move on”, he said in an interview last Thursday.
Fellow NBA stars showed their support to Oladipo on Twitter. Some of which are LeBron James (LAL) and Paul George (OKC), who was a former Pacer and suffered a gruesome leg injury in 2014.
For now, Tyreke Evans would replace Oladipo in the starting lineup.
Oladipo's injury has dealt a huge blow to the Pacers. The Pacers currently hold the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference with a record of 32-15. The Pacers were able to acquire Oladipo last year which sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder. With that move, the Pacers were able to join in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. With Oladipo gone for the season, the hope for post-season success of the team is growing slim.
However, Oladipo's teammates are convinced that they would return to the playoffs this season. Nick Collison said this won't be a setback for the team.
“The season's not over. They don't know our mindset in the locker room. They don't know what we have”, he said in an interview.
Myles Turner, the Pacers center, also expressed the same optimism as Collison.
“We've got to come together and play inspired basketball. We can’t let this get us stuck in the mud. It's emotional but we have to overcome it and play”, he said in an interview. (Jayvee Gulfan, USC intern)