Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo could be forced to miss the team’s season opener against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night due to tendonosis in his left knee.
INJURY UPDATE: Ömer Yurtseven (left ankle soreness) and Victor Oladipo (left knee tendonosis) did not practice today.
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 18, 2022
Oladipo has spent nearly four years trying to bounce back from knee troubles that sidetracked what was a promising rise to stardom.
Those troubles began while he was playing for the Indiana Pacers in the 2018-19 season. He underwent surgery for a ruptured right quadriceps tendon in January 2019. He returned the following season, but only saw action in 19 games.
A Bumpy Way to the Heat
During the 2020-21 campaign, Oladipo played with three different teams, though he only saw action in 33 contests. He began the season with the Pacers before getting dealt to the Houston Rockets and finally joining the Heat in a March 2021 deal.
Oladipo only played in four games for the Heat before he was felled by injury again. He subsequently underwent another knee surgery and played sparingly for the Heat last season. In April, he admitted he thought about retiring following so many injury troubles.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say those thoughts crossed my mind,” he said when Adrian Wojnarowski asked if he considered retirement after having to undergo another serious lower-body surgery. “Like I said last night, I’ve been fighting even before I was born. … To quit on that, I would look back, and I would hate myself for it. It was a no-brainer for me to keep going. It might have crossed my mind once what we just talked about, but I brought myself back down to earth and realized like, ‘Bro, nah you can’t quit.’ That’s now how I want things to end.”
As a result of his health issues, the 30-year-old Oladipo re-signed with the Heat during the offseason for just $18.2 million over two years. The second year of that contract is a player option, and he could end up shopping for a more lucrative deal.
However, any such deal would be contingent upon Oladipo showing no signs of his past health issues and returning to his previous form.
That version of Oladipo resulted in him averaging 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game during the 2017-18 campaign, the last season in which he stayed healthy.
The Heat were just one game away from last season’s NBA Finals, and the team is hoping to have the determined Oladipo available to get over the hump this season.
The fact that Erik Spoelstra doesn’t appear to be openly expressing concern about the issue should be seen as promising. With the season set to get underway soon, Spoelstra and the Heat want to be cautious in their approach and focus on the franchise’s long-term goals.
“This is part of the process when a player like Vic ramps it up and then you add the workload and everything,” Spoelstra said. “I think this is normal. We want to proceed with care, and that’s all this is right now. He’s day-to-day. We want to make sure we take care of this so it doesn’t linger.”
If Oladipo is unable to play on Wednesday night, his next opportunity will come on Friday night. Miami is set to host the Boston Celtics in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.
