Indiana Pacers: Defining moments from the last 10 years

Victor Oladipo’s injury leads to Domantas Sabonis standout season

Victor Oladipo went down in January 2019 with a quad injury that likened to that of Paul George’s gruesome leg injury just years prior.

The Indiana Pacers were facing an almost identical situation yet again, the face of their team and their star player was going to be out for some time rehabbing a troubling injury. There would be questions about each player and if they could return to full form following the injury.

The outcome of Oladipo’s injury is still very much up in the air. Oladipo only played 13 games with the Pacers this season and was just starting to find his footing once again when the NBA season was suspended.

What we do know, however, is that Oladipo’s unfortunate absence in the 2019-20 season allowed more time for Domantas Sabonis — the player the Thunder traded with Oladipo for Paul George — to step up and show how productive he could be for this team.

Sabonis, in Oladipo’s absence, became the MVP of the Pacers season and leaned into an offensive role that was made possible for him by spacing from Myles Turner.

He posted a career-high in points and rebounds per game and operated as the offensive centerpiece in the second unit which allowed him to post 5.0 assists per game, second-best on the Pacers.

Sabonis was named to his first All-Star team and has started to get much more national respect for his high level of play.

Arguably, Sabonis may have been able to do this regardless of if Oladipo played or not this season. But Oladipo being out really helped for Sabonis to step out on the stage and show that he has the potential to be a real leader on the Pacers.