It’s an exciting time to be an Indiana Pacers fan. After losing superstar two-way player Paul George last summer, it looked like it was going to be a long and slow rebuild for the Eastern Conference franchise. Fast forward 12 months and the future has never looked brighter for a young and talented Pacers team who was outstanding last season, of course, led by Victor Oladipo.
The head of the snake is the explosive combo guard, who was acquired from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the George exchange. Along with Oladipo came Domantas Sabonis, son of legendary NBA player Arvydas Sabonis. Both Sabonis and Oladipo shocked the world as the Pacers climbed to the fifth seed in a competitive Eastern Conference after being destined for the lottery by a lot of analysts.
Oladipo’s rise has been truly extraordinary. After an indifferent time during his playing days at the Orlando Magic, the dynamic scorer really struggled to find his place alongside Russell Westbrook and company in Oklahoma City when traded there. This made people question his ability and lose faith in his undeniable potential. Some had given up on him, but last season’s breakout year put the NBA world on notice.
Oladipo averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game to run away with the NBA’s Most Improved Award and the first All-Star appearance of his career.
It didn’t end there though, as Oladipo was at the forefront of the Pacers’ impressive postseason campaign, where they pushed the eventual Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games, falling just short. Oladipo went head-to-head with LeBron James, who had to be superhuman at times to get the Cavs over the line against a gritty Pacers outfit.
James heaped praise on Oladipo after the series, and rightly so as the young stud was a constant thorn in the Cavs’ defensive woes.
Next season promises to be yet another year of development and excellence for Oladipo and company, as the Pacers look to go one better this time around. As you can imagine, Oladipo wasted no time getting back into the gym to get better and was recently spotted embarrassing an unfortunate youngster at a training camp with a monster alley-oop to himself off the gym wall.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmE1hiFgSqN/
It looks as though the Pacers’ main man will be hungry and ready to go again for this upcoming season.
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