Victor Oladipo only former Indiana Pacers player in NBA Finals
The NBA Finals begin tonight with the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat battling in a matchup that few saw coming.
Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler have been excellent throughout the postseason to get their teams to this point, and whichever one of them has a better series could be the player that gets to lift the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy at the end of the Finals.
The Indiana Pacers aren't playing in the championship round, and they haven't since 2000. But they are still represented in the Finals by a former Pacer who now plays for the Heat and a previous assistant who is now on Denver's sidelines.
Every Eastern Conference playoff team had one former Indiana player on its roster, so there was going to be one ex-member of the blue and gold who had a shot at the title. In the end, it's Victor Oladipo, the Miami guard who played for the Pacers from 2017 through 2021.
Oladipo, now 31, has been with the Heat since 2021 and is in his third season with the franchise. He's averaged 11 points per game for the squad in 54 regular season appearances.
In the ongoing postseason, the former All-NBA guard is averaging 11.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. But he is done playing. After just two outings, Oladipo suffered a torn left patellar tendon and was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. He had 15 points in his lone full outing in the first round.
The guard averaged 20.6 points per game across four seasons for Indiana, which included two All-Star appearances. A knee injury changed the tenor of his time with the blue and gold before he was traded away in 2021.
On the other side, Denver doesn't have any former Pacers players. But they do have a former Pacers coach. Popeye Jones, who was with Indiana on the bench from 2013 through 2020 under Frank Vogel and Nate McMillan, has been on the Nuggets staff since 2021. Michael Malone is the head coach for Denver.
Jones spent one year on the Philadelphia 76ers bench between his stints with Indiana and Denver. This is his second season with the Nuggets. He had an 11-year playing career and actually played for the Nuggets in 1999-00.
Oladipo played his college basketball at Indiana University, so he has ties to the state beyond the NBA. Heat teammate Cody Zeller also went to IU, as did Nuggets center Thomas Bryant. There is going to be a Hoosier champion this season. Pacers assistant coach Calbert Cheaney recently took a job on IU's staff.
The Finals begin tonight in Denver. Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin is in attendance as a media correspondent.
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