Victor Oladipo is making one more push to get back into the NBA, and he’s doing it in plain view.
The former Indiana standout published an open letter Tuesday through The Players Tribune, saying he believes his body is finally ready and that he still has enough left to help a team. Oladipo, 34, framed the ask directly to NBA decision-makers: a chance to prove he can still contribute.
“To say to any GM who’s willing to listen: I believe my body is finally right,” Oladipo wrote. “I believe I still have GREAT (and more importantly, WINNING) basketball in front of me.
I believe I can be a valuable contributor to an NBA locker room. And what I’m asking for right now is an opportunity to prove it.”
Oladipo last appeared in an NBA game during the 2022-23 season. He has not been able to finish a full comeback after a pair of major knee injuries slowed a career that once looked headed somewhere bigger. His last season with more than 42 games came in 2017-18, his first with the Indiana Pacers.
The injury trouble started in 2019, when he ruptured the quad tendon in his right knee and was shut down after 36 games. Then came another blow in 2023, when he tore the patellar tendon in his left knee. He has not played in an NBA game since.
Even with those setbacks, Oladipo kept trying to work his way back. He spent time last season with the Milwaukee Herd in the NBA G League, and he also took part in a private workout over the summer that drew NBA teams. Still, no roster spot followed.
In his letter, Oladipo said he doesn’t know how the story ends, but he wanted to thank any front office that took the time to read it.
“I don’t know how my journey here is going to end,” he wrote. “Maybe a team out there will give me a chance.
Maybe no team will. That’s really up to you all.
But if you’re in an NBA front office, and you took the time to read this: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Oladipo’s NBA résumé still carries weight. In 504 career games, he has averaged 16.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 32.2 minutes per game. He’s a two-time All-Star and has earned more than $124 million in his career.
Before all of that, he was one of the biggest names in college basketball. The No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, selected by the Orlando Magic, Oladipo starred at Indiana in 2012-13, when he was an All-American and helped the Hoosiers win the outright Big Ten regular-season title and secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
He has also played for Houston, Oklahoma City and Miami, in addition to Orlando and Indiana.
NBA training camps for the 2026-27 season open in late September.
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