The Indiana star would back down after announcing in early July that he would not be on the season restart.
Just 10 days after assuring that he would not participate in the end of the 2019-20 course to continue his rehabilitation and arrive in full physical condition at 2020-21, Victor Oladipo could back down in such determination to finally play with the Indiana Pacers in the bubble of Orlando; Shams Charania reports of The Athletic.
According to the aforementioned journalist, optimism regarding his presence on the courts of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex comes after seeing him train with full intensity with his teammates, even participating in five-on-five exercises. That he can train at the level of the rest of the team is no surprise. Oladipo broke the quadriceps tendon in his right knee in January 2019, a very serious injury that kept him without returning to the fields until six weeks before the NBA suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic; that is, we are talking about 14 months of break in his career. However, the fact that he returned and went on to play 13 games with the team denotes that he was ready to play, although perhaps not one hundred percent.
Beyond his physical condition, what makes Indianapolis and the player himself doubt about his participation in Disney World are the unique conditions of the bubble, which can be classified as stressful. According to the player’s physical therapist, his injury, still fully restored, is prone to creating new ailments in the following years. “This type of injury takes time to recover. It is a very rare injury. He came back, went into rotation and his knee responded really well, but then the pandemic had to be stopped. Now we are asking the boys to get ready in 21 days. That is a temporarily scarce window for a person with his type of injury, “he stresses.
The truth is that although Oladipo announced that he would not return to the fields until the following campaign, the fact that he assured that he would also accompany the team in the bubble made many wonder: why? Going through the entire quarantine process and living in the bubble away from family and friends did not seem the best context if the goal was to continue recovering. Now it is logical to consider whether in his head there was always the possibility of changing his mind and jumping onto the field.
If Oladipo finally chooses to play it will certainly be a huge boost for the Pacers. Despite the fact that in the matches he played after the serious injury he stayed at 13.8 points with 39.8% on field goals, he is also the main star of the team, that player that the rivals will watch at all times . If you are successful and can play at a level similar to when you were an All-Star in 2018, Indianapolis will smile. If it gives a somewhat lower level, it will still be a distraction for rivals.
(Photo by Brian Munoz / Getty Images)
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