What do you think the biggest what-if in Indiana Pacers history is? Is it the Malice at the Palace, a brawl so bad that it ruined the Pacers' chance at contention with the best team in franchise history overnight? Is it Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles tear, wiping away any chance Indiana had at their team's first NBA championship win in a Game 7 do-or-die contest? Is it the Pacers failing to draft hometown Larry Bird a year early because he decided to go back to college?
Those are certainly the top two. It's hard to argue otherwise. Both immediately nuked all chances Indiana had at rings in the years in which they fielded the best teams they've ever had. However, while they are certainly the most notable and significant ones, they aren't the biggest what-if for me.
Victor Oladipo is the most fun many modern Pacers fans have had with the team. Tyrese Haliburton is an incredible player, and is well on his way to being the best Pacer in franchise history, but there was something special about Victor.
Basketball so often transcends the world of the court. Oladipo went to Indiana for college and spent a few years on the Orlando Magic and the OKC Thunder before coming home. As he detailed in his heartfelt open letter to GMs and fans alike, there was nothing more special than his time in Indiana.
I'm sure fans feel the same way.
Ultimately, the Oladipo era ended in tragedy, with injuries leading to bruised egos and an eventual faux pas by Victor as he begged other teams to trade for him. But there is something so special about the player he was for just one year, and something so nostalgic about how he details it himself.
A heartbreaking read, but a heartwarming one nonetheless
Oladipo's writing is sincere as it is pained. He is 34 now, already out of the league. While he continues to push for a comeback bid, he is clearly not going to find it. No, his prime years have unfairly evaporated.
He was 27 when he suffered the ruptured quad that put him at odds with Pacers management. He was 31 when a patellar tendon injury ended his career.
Somehow, the man who was handed the keys to a roster that many expected to fall into the lottery at just 26 years old, who managed to duel a prime LeBron James with said team as it overperformed like few teams have in recent history, saw his talent snuffed out and he kept pushing.
The first half of Oladipo's letter is framed as a letter to the GMs who he hopes will sign him, along with a memory of his mother's dream simply to meet fellow Nigerian countryman Hakeem Olajuwon. The second half is instead a plea from parent to child.
Oladipo's daughter, Naomi (who he adorably calls Nomi), is the object of Victor's final push for a roster spot. His dream is now not just to make it back to the league he once dominated, but to show her what is possible in a world so deeply cruel: hope.
Victor is understandably a controversial figure in Pacers lore. After he gave up on the team, many fans who had once screamed his name turned on him.
I would challenge those fans to read that letter and to rethink who they hate.
And to join me in wishing Oladipo a healthy and well-deserved comeback, as we also remember and mourn the career he lost.
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