Victor Oladipo: Tough times don’t last, tough people do

Victor Oladipo thanked the Indiana Pacers and their fans for support while opening up a little to talk about his injury on Instagram.

It was tough watching Victor Oladipo’s season end so suddenly when the Indiana Pacers star fell to the court on Wednesday. Obviously, for the man himself, it’s been even harder. Oladipo took to Instagram to thank the Indiana Pacers and their fans, as well as basketball fans in general for the support over the past few days.

But he started out by opening up about the frustrations that come with an injury, especially after the hard work he clearly had been in over the past few years to step up his game.

“I can’t even lie the last few months have been really tough for not only me but for my family as well. You give it your all, literally your blood, sweat and tears to the game you love and things like this happen. No matter how much hard work and effort you put into perfecting your craft you cannot predict the challenges you’ll face ahead.  But there is always that point in time where you wonder why it’s happening to you. You even wonder if there was something you could have done differently to prevent the outcome. The confusion, the contemplation, the anger, the sadness and the tears that flow frequently come, but they never last.”

“The amount of support, love and prayers that I have received over the past few days have been breathtaking and has truly inspired me to come back even better than before. Thank you to everyone including all my teammates, pacer fans and staff. Thank you to all the NBA fans around the world and all my brothers around the league who texted, called, tweeted and posted me I am truly thankful.”

But the most encouraging part might be the next line of his post.

“It’s going to be tough but tough times don’t last tough people do. It’s time for me to truly practice what I preach and trust my God in heaven and the plan he has for me. I will be back better than ever and if you question that well, thank you. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world! I am #UnBreakable.”

Tough times don’t last, tough people do

It’s hard to explain how important Victor Oladipo’s success was in the wake of Paul George’s exit.

It felt like everything good that happened since the Malice in the Palace was leaving, too. Pacers fans remembered too well those teams that struggled to win games and weren’t a threat to make the playoffs. Were those days coming back?

Indiana’s teams that made the conference finals would be hard to replicate, especially without any lottery picks in the near future. It seemed like Indiana was doomed to losing for the time being.

But it turned out Victor Oladipo was actually a franchise-caliber player. Not only that, Domantas Sabonis wasn’t the same player that struggled in his rookie season with the Oklahoma City, either.

With Oladipo being a former Indiana Hoosier, the connection was already there with many fans. Once the Pacers started looking like a real playoff team, it didn’t take long for him to be the king, or at least mayor, of Indiana’s basketball fans.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

Even though they got bounced in the first round of the playoffs, Pacers basketball was fun again.

This year was building on that. With Indiana third in the standings in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers were playing their best basketball since 2014.

Then he went down. Déjà vu.

That’s why it was so tough for Pacers fans. It felt like they’d been here before not too long ago, and now, with a player they felt like they could call their own. Oladipo just means a lot to folks in Indiana.

But like Oladipo said, tough times don’t last, tough people do. Right now that’s hard to take in as Oladipo is at least six months away from playing again, and maybe longer. But Oladipo’s overly positive attitude is exactly what he needs as he works back from his knee injury. If he believes in himself, it will be easier for Pacers’ fans to believe he can pick up from where he left off whenever he comes back.

This isn’t easy for Victor Oladipo, but hopefully when next season get underway, we’re talking about another uplifting chapter in his story with the Indiana Pacers.