Getty Miami Heat stars Jimmy Butler and Victor Oladipo talk during a game against the Golden State Warriors.
Rediscovering one’s form after a years-long struggle with injuries isn’t a 50-meter dash; it’s a marathon full of ebbs, flows, highs and lows. That’s a fact that Miami Heat fans would do well to remember as Victor Oladipo’s return continues to unfold.
It’s something Oladipo may have to remind himself about as well.
After his club suffered some gnarly losses, losing its breathing room at the top of the Eastern Conference playoff pack in the process, Erik Spoelstra made a rotational change. Gone were comeback kids Oladipo and Markieff Morris as the Heat coach abruptly dropped down to a nine-man rotation.
In the wake of the move, the former took to Twitter with a post that some are calling sour grapes on his part.
Oladipo Wants to Refresh Some Memories
Remember me?
On March 31, one day after receiving his second-straight DNP-CD, Oladipo hit the tweet machine to drop a cryptic post, which is embedded above. The tweet featured a highlight package from his glory days along with the caption, “Remember me?”
Unfortunately, Oladipo has rarely resembled the player appearing in the video since making his latest return from right quadriceps tendon surgery.
Over six appearances, he has averaged a ho-hum 6.3 points, 2.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. Oladipo is also shooting just 37.5% from the floor and 25% from three-point range. Meanwhile, he’s the only non-two-way player on the Heat roster with a negative net rating.
With all of that being said, it was probably unreasonable for the Heat, their fans and/or Oladipo himself to have expected anything else in his return. Ruptured quads are no small thing, and ‘Dipo’s injury and his repeated setbacks have limited him to just 94 games played out of a possible 323 since the 2018-19 campaign tipped off.
Regardless, the tweet is out there now and some fans are hammering the two-time All-Star for it.
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Fans React
Oladipo’s tweet elicited a significant response from the masses, and a large portion of it wasn’t positive.
“What are you trying to get from us Vic?” wondered one follower. “As a Heat lifer, I can tell you that at this stage, from what we’ve seen from you, Gabe gives us our best chance to win. No knock on you, just reality given where you are after injuries.”
“You’re washed now but it was a nice run,” deadpanned another respondent.
“Yea but aren’t these highlights from like 3 years ago? Like the last time you were actually good,” chimed in a third fan, referencing Oladipo’s video package.
Not everyone reacted negatively to Oladipo’s post, however. Elsewhere in the comment thread, a slew of supporters responded with well wishes and words of affirmation for the star guard.
“I’m not even knocking you but injuries have made an impact and it’s ok even though it’s unfortunate. Keep grinding you’re still young enough to get back close to where you were and you’ll have tons of support,” tweeted one such fan.
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