Victor Oladipo dropped by the set of the NHL Network to talk about the Washington Capitals before the played the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Victor Oladipo texted his trainer as soon as the Indiana Pacers season ended, but with as busy as his summer is, it’s hard to know if he had time to workout.
Oladipo closed out the month of may by driving the pace car at the Indianapolis 500, and he started off the month of June by visiting the set of NHL Network before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Oladipo, a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, put on the jersey of his hometown Washington Capitals to talk about his season, that Indy 500 experience, and perhaps a future in broadcasting.
When asked about who kept the atmosphere light in the locker room, it wasn’t surprising to hear that Lance Stephenson and Joe Young are part of that, but I was a little surprised to hear Al Jefferson was part of that.
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I had imagined Al as a player-assistant coach more than a guy who set the mood in Indiana’s locker room. At the same time, with Al’s veteran experience, he knows what teams need to be successful.
Oladipo spoke about how he and the Pacers earned the respect of the NBA world. “At the end of the day, you need to respect us. Because no one else thought we were going to be where we are except those people in that locker room. At the end of the day, people are going to respect you or people aren’t, but the majority need to. And I feel like we’ve earned the respect, but we are just going to continue proving it, day after day, year after year, so I’m looking forward to that as well.”
As far as the actual game, Oladipo got to see the Capitals win 3-1, taking a 2-1 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights. The Capitals’ goals came from Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Devante Smith-Pelly, who happens to be one of my favorite Capitals.
Oladipo’s happy, I’m happy, and the Capitals are happy. What’s not to like?
And at least we know he’s a real Capitals fan, unlike Kenan Thompson, who to his defense, was probably just happy as a hockey fan to be going to a Stanley Cup Finals game.
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The Capitals play again in Washington on Monday, and hopefully, once again, Victor Oladipo is happy with the result.