Former All-Star guard Victor Oladipo has struggled since joining the Miami Heat, shooting just 31 percent from the floor in three appearances following a pre-deadline deal with the Houston Rockets. However, the 28-year-old enjoyed his best performance in a Heat uniform on Thursday evening, scoring 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting and grabbing three steals in a nationally televised matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Along the way, Oladipo even flashed some intriguing athleticism with an impressive dunk.
https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1380331139764748292
However, the optimism was short-lived, as the former Indiana Pacers shooting guard seemingly tweaked his right knee during the fourth quarter and exited to the locker room with the trainer shortly after.
Oladipo seems to have tweaked his knee pic.twitter.com/ER2paZb8oK
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 9, 2021
Oladipo seemingly felt the knee issue while in the air, rather than on the landing, as he almost braces himself for the descent from the rim. At this early juncture, the Heat have not released any kind of statement on Oladipo’s status, but he has battled injury issues for multiple seasons.
After a breakout season in 2017-18, Oladipo played just 36 games in 2018-19 and 19 games in 2019-20 while with the Pacers. He has been more durable this season, appearing in 32 games with three different teams, but this potential hiccup would not be ideal for either Oladipo or the Heat.
Miami has eyes on a potential follow-up to their NBA Finals run in 2020, with Oladipo looking to improve his stock ahead of unrestricted free agency. For now, both sides can simply hope that this latest tweak isn’t serious in nature.
