A highly-anticipated NBA game happened on Saturday night, as the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors finally squared off against one another. The two teams came into the season viewed as the favorites in their respective conferences, and it’s possible that this game — the first time they played during the 2018-19 campaign — could serve as a preview of the NBA Finals a little later this season.
With the matchup taking place on ABC, one Warriors player decided to use the national spotlight to pay tribute to one of his friends. Quinn Cook, who has appeared in 41 games this year and has become a steady hand off the bench when Steph Curry needs a break, wrote the initials of Pacers guard Victor Oladipo and his number, 4, on his sneakers.
Quinn Cook played with Victor Oladipo in high school. Long-time friends. Oladipo had that devastating injury the other night. Cook has ‘VO4’ written on both shoes tonight. pic.twitter.com/T3taSpRA4w
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 27, 2019
Oladipo went down earlier this week during Indiana’s game against Toronto with what looked to be a serious injury, and as it turns out, the All-Star guard ruptured the quad tendon in his right knee. It’s a horrific injury for anyone, one that runs the risk of really impacting a player’s explosiveness and athleticism, two things that are crucial to Oladipo’s game. He is, however, optimistic he’ll come back stronger than ever.
Still, while the circumstances surrounding it are unfortunate, this is a nice gesture by Cook, who suited up alongside Oladipo at DeMatha Catholic in Maryland when the pair were in high school.
