Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo will not join his team for the NBA restart in Orlando, Florida, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.
Oladipo had been hesitant to commit to join the Pacers at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex due to the risk of reinjuring his quadriceps tendon.
The 28-year-old Oladipo appeared in 13 games during the 2019-20 season before the coronavirus pandemic suspended play. He was averaging 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a career-low 25.9 minutes per game as he tried to work himself back into shape following the extended time off for a ruptured quadriceps tendon.
“At the end of the day, it takes time for your body to heal,” Oladipo said earlier this week. “… We’ve had an extensive period of time off and to go back and ramp things up again, I’m susceptible to injury more so than anyone else seeing as how I was already injured beforehand and I wasn’t 100% when I came back to begin with.
“A part of rehab is working your way back and getting yourself to 100%, so at the end of the day, going back and turning things up as quickly as we’re about to do, and pretty much going to playoff formation and playoff games after eight games, I’m more susceptible to injury than anyone else is. So it’s not about now. It’s about longevity.”
The Pacers (39-26) are currently the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Their first game of the resumption of the NBA season is set for Aug. 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers.