Victor Oladipo on his return to Indiana: 'It definitely brings some nostalgia.'
INDIANAPOLIS — It has been 695 days since the Indiana Pacers traded Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets. 12 games had already occurred for the Pacers in the 2020-21 season, but they couldn't pass on the opportunity to acquire Caris LeVert in a deal involving Oladipo and his expiring contract. So they moved on from the two-time All-Star.
In the time period since, Oladipo has only played in 35 regular season games. Injuries, including one to the same quad that led to him missing so much time with the Pacers, have caused the former All-NBA level guard to sit out often across the past two seasons. In that span, he has missed five chances to play against the Pacers, including four in Indianapolis.
But Oladipo is back on the court now, and tonight, he will suit up and play against the Pacers for the first time since the franchise sent him to Houston. Fittingly, it will be in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Indianapolis-based arena in which Oladipo once proclaimed "This is my city!"
"It definitely brings some nostalgia walking into the building," Oladipo said this morning in Gainbridge Fieldhouse after a Miami Heat shootaround. The Rockets traded Oladipo to Miami in March of 2021, and he has been with the franchise ever since.
He noted multiple times while speaking with the media that some people assume that he is from Indiana. He isn't, he was born in a suburb of Washington, D.C. But that assumption comes from Oladipo's many ties to the state — he attended college at Indiana University, where he led the Hoosiers to a Big Ten Championship and two Sweet Sixteen appearances, and he spent the majority of his NBA career to date with the Pacers. He has many relationships with the Hoosier State.
A devastating ruptured quad changed the course of his time with the blue and gold, and that injury was one of the reasons the Pacers ended up changing directions. Rehab was not easy for Oladipo, but he's trying to move past that and forget about it in his return to Indiana. "I'm going to focus on the good... I let the bad energy go a long time ago," he said.
This isn't Oladipo's first time playing against his former team. He played against the Orlando Magic after being dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He battled against OKC while with the Pacers. He even has gone against Houston since being shipped to Miami. But this will be Oladipo's first chance to go against the Pacers since his strong years with the franchise — the one he was with when his career took off.
"It's not my first time getting traded. Obviously, this is a special place to me," Oladipo said. "That goes into it, the emotions go into that," he added. He keeps up with several of his old teammates dating back as far as his time with the Magic, and one of them is current Pacers center Myles Turner.
Tonight, he and Turner will be opposites. The two were a part of three Indiana teams that reached the postseason, and they both were starters on the most recent Pacers squad to notch a win in the playoffs. Goga Bitadze and T.J. McConnell also remain from Oladipo's time with the Pacers.
On this day, though, they will battle against each other. Oladipo very recently returned from a knee issue that held him out of Miami's first 24 games. He has just three appearances on the season, and he has averaged 8.7 points and 2.3 assists per game.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has been happy with the guard's speed and burst on the court so far, sharing that the Heat need his athleticism and defense. Spoelstra also noted that Oladipo has been a positive presence off the court, and his personality always shined in Indiana. Miami is 1-2 since he rejoined the lineup.
"I know it probably means something special to him," Spoelstra said of Oladipo and the upcoming game.
"I look forward to just going out there and competing, man," Oladipo added. It will be his fourth appearance of the season.
You can watch Oladipo's media session in the video below.
Pacers vs Heat will tip off at 7 p.m. Eastern Time tonight. You can read a preview of the game here.
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