Just before the NBA preseason finale last December, Houston Rockets guard Victor Oladipo went to a funeral. The funeral, however, was not for a person but for his injured knee.
This event was meant to symbolize a farewell to his injury mindset–something that had taken a heavy toll on Oladipo.
“… burying my injury and letting myself know that I'm healed, I'm stronger than ever before, it gave me the courage, the strength to actually go out there and perform and not think about the leg. Not defer as much. That was definitely huge for my process, especially my mental health process,” the new Rockets star told ESPN.
The funeral was held online and was attended by motivational speaker and pastor Eric Thomas. He and his teammates served as sports psychologists to Oladipo. The then Indiana Pacers player wrote a goodbye letter to the injury mindset and burned it outside his home to signify it was behind him.
An excerpt from the letter read, “Today I am burying everything related to my torn quad. I am burying and letting go of everything. I'm letting go of tearing my quad and the injury that happened. I'm letting go of being one of three people to ever get the injury.”
For what it's worth, the meetings with Thomas helped Oladipo process the reality of being traded from the Pacers to the Rockets. After all, Dipo was not aware that he was being traded. Nonetheless, he is offering up all his worries to his God and focuses on improving himself.
Victor Oladipo is off to a hot start with the Rockets. He has been averaging 22.3 points, 4.0 boards, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals in three games with the team so far.
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