Indiana Pacers: Victor Oladipo has a big decision to make

Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is undecided on returning in restart

As the NBA continues to inch towards its plan to return next month, and despite recent concern that only seems to grow, there are big decisions that need to be made over the course of the next few days.

Testing is reportedly set to begin at any moment, and teams will begin to ramp up its training if they haven’t already begun to do so. It was reported that players will have to inform their respective teams by June 24 if they plan on sitting out the restart.

Players are able to sit out the restart if they choose to do so, but need to inform their teams of their plans beforehand. In fact, it’s expected for a few players to elect that route – whether that is due to safety concerns or individual health concerns.

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In a global pandemic, it’s almost a given. According to ESPN, one player that isn’t sure about playing when the NBA restarts is Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo who was playing his way back into shape just as the NBA entered the hiatus.

"[via ESPN]“I feel a whole lot better,” Oladipo told ESPN. “I know there’s risk going into it with the unique situation that I’m in — being off so long and trying to ramp it up that fast. I’ve just got to be smart, that’s all.”"

Oladipo is coming off a major quad injury that forced him to miss more than a calendar year of action. He played 13 games before the NBA season was paused. Though, he very much looked like a player that was brushing off some serious dust.

In those 13 games, Oladipo only averaged 14 points, three rebounds, and three assists on 39 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range. It’s easy to see why he would have concerns about returning back to full playoff speed with only eight “warm-up” games.

Not only from a performance standpoint but also from an injury one. It might bot be the safest move for Oladipo to simply jump into playoff action. It’s already a big risk for completely healthy players, even more so for a player that is coming off such a delicate injury.

The only one that should decide whether Victor Oladipo can/should play is Victor Oladipo. At this point, I don’t think any player should be judged by any decision that they make.