Advertisement

Heat’s Victor Oladipo updates status, said he wants ‘one of best comeback stories ever’

The smile was back, suggesting Victor Oladipo is in a better place, even if that place is not yet in a game for the Miami Heat.

Victor Oladipo believes his knee has finally been fixed correctly and sees a long-term future with the Heat.

That much is clear.

What’s very much unclear is when he will play in a game this season; he said he assuredly will play in a game but — asked specifically if he will play in the calendar year 2021 or before February’s All Star break — Oladipo said he doesn’t know the answer to either.

His surgeon told ESPN in May that he should be ready for full-court action in November, but Oladipo shrugged that off.

All Oladipo would say about a return to game action is that it’s “hopefully sooner than later. I’m optimistic. I’m doing better now. I have no control of the past. Here and now, I feel great. I’m getting better every day.”

As far as whether he would be able to play in a game before the All Star break, he said: “I wish I had the answers, but I really don’t know.”

He said he has been cleared medically to do only “super light stuff, nothing crazy. I’m getting better.”

Asked if he can run full speed, he said: “I’m not full speed any way.”

After being acquired from Houston last February, Oladipo reinjured the quadriceps tendon in his right knee just four games into his Heat career and had similar surgery to the one he needed after sustaining that injury in an Indiana Pacers uniform in December 2019. That initial injury and surgery sidelined him a bit more than a year.

Was the surgery simply not done correctly?

“I have to go in depth but essentially it wasn’t the right version for me,” he said. “It didn’t give me my best opportunity to get my leg back to where it needs to be. Things are different now. I’m optimistic about it and moving forward.

“The normality helps a lot, being able to get out of bed and feel normal. Walk to the bathroom feels normal. The normality is refreshing. I don’t know what it’s going to feel like when I’m 100 percent strong and healthy. I don’t feel like I’m going to tip over standing here. That’s pretty good. I feel more comfortable today than I did before. It’s a process. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m trying to remain optimistic.”

He opted to sign a one-year deal with the Heat at the minimum. Because Miami has his Bird Rights, the Heat can surpass the cap to re-sign him next summer. But Oladipo, 29, said Heat president Pat Riley never discussed that with him.

“Even Pat’s conversation was ‘keep the main thing the main thing,’ Oladipo said. ‘Get healthy. Everything else will take care of itself.’”

Why did he opt to stay with the Heat on a low-money deal?

“Here I wasn’t given the opportunity to be my best self here. I don’t know what our team would have done with a healthy version of me because I wasn’t given that opportunity; I was dealt a bad hand. I feel there’s unfinished business here.

“I feel like I came here for a reason and there’s a purpose for me being here and I’m trying to find out what that is. I believe it’s a good one. I believe we can do something very special here for years to come and I want to be a part of it.”

How tough emotionally have the past two years been for the former All Star guard?

“It’s been really tough. It’s been hard. This is another battle in the books for me. I want to show my resiliency and have one of the best comeback stories ever. I want to make the most of my situation. It’s easy to quit and say ‘woe is me,’ but that doesn’t solve the problem. I know there are a lot of eyes watching. Hopefully, I can be a vessel for them and show them they can get through anything if they really put their mind to it.”

But from a mental standpoint, he’s in a good place now, as the warm grin revealed.

“The peace I have is knowing I wasn’t stopping myself from being the best version of me. Last two years, I felt like, ‘Damn is this my norm? Is it me stopping me from me being healthy? Why can’t I get out of my own way?’

“In reality, I wasn’t placed in a great situation. My path from getting injured to now has been wild, from COVID, to playing in the bubble. It has been kind of a lot for me. But I can handle it. It’s cool.”

HASLEM OUT

Veteran Heat forward Udonis Haslem was not at Media Day on Monday as he mourns the recent passing of his father.

The Heat did not know whether Haslem would be at the team’s first training camp practice on Tuesday at FTX Arena. Haslem, 41, is entering his 19th NBA season.