Victor Oladipo is still chasing the next chapter of his NBA story, and he’s taking that plea straight to the people who can write it.
The former Pacers star published an open letter to NBA general managers in the Players’ Tribune, asking for one more opportunity to get back in the league. Oladipo, now 34, has spent the last several years fighting through a brutal injury history that has repeatedly interrupted his career.
His setbacks have been major. He suffered a ruptured quadriceps in 2019 and later tore his patellar tendon in 2023. He has not played in an NBA game since that injury with the Miami Heat, and he hasn’t appeared in more than 42 games in an NBA season since the quad rupture.
Still, he’s kept working. Last season, Oladipo played 26 games in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd and averaged 14.0 points per game. He has also been holding open tryouts this summer, continuing to search for a way back.
In the letter, Oladipo leaned into the unlikely path that got him here in the first place. The son of Nigerian immigrants, he came off the bench at DeMatha Catholic High School in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., was a three-star recruit at Indiana, and needed most of his three seasons there before becoming a reliable offensive force. From there, his rise was steep: he was taken No. 2 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft and became an All-Star with the Pacers after arriving from the Thunder in the Paul George trade in 2017.
Oladipo also said his daughter Naomi is a major reason he keeps pushing. “As she grows up, and if she’s ever in a place where she wants to take lessons from my life, or bookmark pages from my story … I really just hope that this is the one she comes back to the most,” Oladipo wrote.
“I hope that this is the page she can turn to when it’s tough times. And I hope that when she does turn to it, she realizes she’s strong like her dad … but also that she’s allowed to show weakness like her dad.
Because if it’s coming from a feeling that’s true, it’s all strength. And I’m already so proud of her.”
His message to front offices was simple: he wants another shot. “I don’t know how my journey here is going to end. ...
Maybe a team out there will give me a chance,” he wrote. “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.
And I can promise you one thing, always, about my basketball story ... from the first page to the last.
“It’s a love story.”
In Other News...
Pascal Siakam Just Set The Tone For Indianas Next East Push
Pascal Siakam is already sounding like the kind of veteran the Pacers needed as they look ahead to their next Eastern Conference push. The four-time All-Star spoke about bringing a tougher, more aggressive edge into the 2026-27 season, and that attitude fits a roster that has been reworked around him with the additions of Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre Jr., plus Tyrese Haliburton expected back from injury.
For Indiana, the message matters because the margin in the East is so thin and Siakam just spent last season averaging 24 points per game while carrying a major offensive load. If Haliburton returns at full strength and the new pieces settle in quickly, the Pacers have a chance to look more complete than they did a year ago, with Siakam positioned to help drive the whole thing. [Read more 🡒]