After soaking in his return, Miami Heat’s Victor Oladipo ready to ‘make winning plays’
Midway through the first quarter on Monday, Miami Heat fans at FTX began to chant. It gave Tyler Herro goosebumps. It gave Erik Spoelstra the affirmation that the team’s supporters understood the situation.
And it gave the man for whom they were cheering a sense of comfort.
“O-la-di-po. O-la-di-po.”
After 11 months, Victor Oladipo, officially, was back. Dipo Day had arrived.
A standing ovation ushered him onto the court when he finally made his way to the scorer’s table about five minutes after the first round of the chants started.
An opportunity to showcase his health, a chance to get his career back on track after a disjointed past three seasons, stood in front of him.
He delivered.
Oladipo scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting, dished out three assists, hit a pair of three-pointers and drew a pair of charges in the Heat’s 123-106 win over the Houston Rockets.
“The moment,” Oladipo said, “was everything I wanted and more.”
His impact was limited only by time. Spoelstra said pregame that Oladipo would be on a strict minutes restriction — a maximum of 15 minutes. He held true to that, with Oladipo only playing 14:38 over two separate stretches.
But Monday marked the first step to what the Heat hopes is a return to his All-Star potential as the playoffs approach.
That takes time. Oladipo knows that. Spoelstra knows that. The Heat knows that.
What they all know, as well: A healthy Victor Oladipo makes Miami a better team.
“We’ll build it from there,” Spoelstra said, as the Heat continues its season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns (7:30 p.m., ESPN and Bally Sports Sun). “But it’s not going to happen overnight.”
The road to Oladipo’s return
To appreciate the moment Monday, remember what Oladipo has gone through.
Monday was Oladipo’s first game since April 8, 2021 — just four games into his Heat career after being traded to Miami by the Rockets. He spent the last 11 months sidelined from game action after injuring the quadriceps tendon in his right knee. He underwent surgery in May, the second time in 18 months he needed an operation on his knee after suffering the same injury while with the Indiana Pacers in December 2019.
All told, Oladipo had played in just 52 games since the start of the 2019-2020 season before Monday.
This after turning himself into a two-time NBA All-Star (2018 and 2019) and an NBA All-Defensive First-Team member in 2018 when he led the league in steals.
Now, it was a matter of biding his time, working behind the scenes and hoping, after clearing the hurdles in front of him, he could eventually return to pre-injury form.
“I’d see him struggle and going through it, still trying to fight it and play and or not to be right, so to finally be here and make sure — in your head, it’s like ‘Am I good?’” forward P.J. Tucker said. “You can see him going through every progression of every step and see him take steps all the way to get to this point. It’s a beautiful thing to see, man, just seeing him back out there.”
Spoelstra said Oladipo is in a “much better place physically than he was last year when he first arrived” and noted how Oladipo was playing “basically on one leg” last season.
Oladipo said his recovery this time around is “night and day” compared to the first knee surgery but that he is still working to get to full strength.
“It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows,” Oladipo said. “Just got to keep going. It’s about the story. It’s about being able to be resilient, to bounce back, to really know and understand that it’s never too late for me. That’s all I’m focused on.”
The process is still just beginning. Spoelstra quickly shot down any suggestion about Oladipo’s minutes increasing in the near future.
“I’m going to temper those expectations,” Spoelstra said. “This is an incredible moment. He’s been out a year. Three years of injuries. Fifteen minutes, that feel amazing to him and to everybody in the locker room. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves on anything else.”
Oladipo said there is no “clear-cut answer” as to when his minutes will ramp up. It all depends on how his body responds each day. He’s at peace with that.
His goal, regardless of whether he’s playing 15 minutes or 30, remains the same.
“Just make winning plays,” Oladipo said.
Breaking down Oladipo’s first game
There were examples of those winning plays on Monday.
Oladipo’s return officially began with 1:55 left in the first quarter, with his first stretch of game action lasting 6:25.
He drew a charge on his first defensive possession (“that kind of woke me up a little bit,” Oladipo said) and scored his first points on his third shot attempt — a corner three midway through the second quarter on an assist from Kyle Lowry shortly before being subbed out for Duncan Robinson.
Oladipo thanked Lowry after hitting the three-pointer.
“He got me the open look,” Oladipo said.
His explosive potential showed up during his second and final stretch on the floor.
Oladipo scored eight points, had three assists and a charge over the 8:13 stretch in the second half that began with 2:06 left in the third and ended when he checked out with 5:53 left in regulation
In the span of 51 seconds early in that span, he assisted on a Dewayne Dedmon dunk, drew his second charge of the game (throwing up two fingers afterward) and scored on a driving layup to put the Heat up 84-79 with one minute left in the third quarter.
And then, with 10:15 left in regulation, Oladipo cut into the lane, rose up and slammed down a one-handed dunk. He closed his night with a final three-pointer to put the Heat up 104-89 before heading to the bench.
Oladipo waved to the crowd as he left the floor and got a hug from Markeiff Morris.
The chants throughout FTX Arena started one final time.
“O-la-di-po. O-la-di-po.”
“It was a great feeling,” Oladipo said. “Unbelievable. Words can’t really describe it. ... It makes that moment even more special.
“There are truly better days ahead.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 11:43 PM.
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