Victor Oladipo has a lot to thank Dwyane Wade for in his career

Dwyane Wade announced he is returning for his final season. We have to thank him for helping develop Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo – on the court and off.

Dwyane Wade announced recently that he is returning for his final season in the NBA. He re-signed with the Miami Heat for one more go around in an illustrious career. This came just a little over a month after going through an offseason workout with Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo.

The two share some similarities – they play the same position, they play with a similar gusto, they even have the same signature celebration. The similarities are obvious and yet innumerable; they are also not a coincidence.

It isn’t a fluke – Wade has been one of Oladipo’s closest confidants, even predating his days on the Indiana Pacers. Heck, even predating his days playing basketball in Indiana.

The Indy Star ran a story about Wade and Oladipo meeting for the first time. Apparently, Vic asked Wade about what it is like to play for Tom Crean, to which Wade replied: “Well, he’s the reason I’m the man I am today,”.

Flash forward (“flash” pun fully intended) a summer or two, and the duo is inseparable, working out together time and time again:

“When it’s all said and done, he’s going to be one of the greatest to ever play. He already is to me,” Oladipo said of Wade to the Indy Star back in 2014. “It’s great to have him as a mentor and a close friend.”

Before Oladipo’s explosion last season, it appeared the mentorship supplied by Wade was somewhat in one ear and out the other. But last year – it finally all came together for Oladipo, and he finally had a season with a close to Wade-ian level impact.

To bolster that point, here are the age 25 seasons for our two specimens:

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Wade’ stats reign supreme still, but Oladipo channeled his inner mentor and impacted all areas of the game. And they started to have indistinguishable highlights and play styles:

Wade is considered to be the best shot blocking guard of all-time, and for good reason. His combination of speed and athleticism is obscenely rare, and he has the anticipation and timing skills to go along with it. What made Wade more than just a dominant offensive player at his peak was his ability to impact the game defensively as well.

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That has clearly rubbed off on Vic. While Oladipo lacks the blocking prowess that Wade has, he instead manifests his defensive impact by being an elite steals guy. He led the league in the category and made an all-defense first team this past season.

Wade has made the all-defense teams three such times. The chase is now on for Vic. Wade has helped him with the chase, though. Here’s more from Wade in the Star article:

“Anything I can do to help him, I’ll do. I can say that he was well-coached by Coach Crean. Knowing that we have similar styled games and he’s an attacker like me. Not only working out together, but we could see certain things just by talking to each other. He watched a lot of film with me and I’m sure he learned a lot. Whatever I can help with, I’ll do it.”

The helping has clearly shown on the court. We saw it as Oladipo blossomed this season. Off the court, we can see it too. Both guys are serious and competitive basketball players, but by all accounts, they are both goofy and fun-loving dudes off the court. Building benevolence with your teammates is part of being a star, and Oladipo learned how to do it from one of the best.

Beyond mentorship, they support each other. Wade was a huge help in making sure that Vic got to represent the Indiana Pacers in the all-star game:

There’s also this video of Wade talking about Vic’s breakout season, where Wade calls Oladipo his little brother but also praises his work:

As his biggest supporter, Dwyane Wade helped Victor Oladipo grow into the player he is today. Wade is a three-time champion and had a long, illustrious career in which he spent almost all of it with one team. Victor Oladipo looks to follow in his footsteps.

When Wade announced he was returning for one final season, Oladipo went to Instagram to congratulate him on his career and to wish him luck in his “One Last Dance”. He posted two pictures of the two working out this summer:

Now we have just one more season where Wade’s and Oladipo’s careers overlap. Their last game against each other will be in Miami on February 2nd, 2019. I’m sure many pleasantries will be exchanged between the two.

Well, once the game is over that is. They are too competitive to be kind to each other on the court. Regardless of how that game, or any Heat-Pacers game, goes this season, fans of the Indiana Pacers should be thankful for how important Dwyane Wade was to Victor Oladipo’s development into a star.