There comes a time in the career of every star when they get the chance to be the guy for a team during the playoffs. For Victor Oladipo, this is exactly what he felt with the Indiana Pacers in 2018. But a first-round matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers put him to the ultimate test.
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At that point in his career, LeBron had never lost in the first round of a playoff series. It was a daunting task for the Pacers, but Oladipo didn’t care who he had to go up against. Being the go-to scorer, he knew that he would be ready to perform when the time called.
“It was my first series being the guy. So, I remember we had Bron and them first, and I don’t think everybody was the happiest about that. Because they just thought that meant our opportunity might be a little slim,” Oladipo shared on Above The Rim with Dwight Howard.
It’s never easy going through your first playoff series as the guy that the team looks to for the most production. But every star has to go through it at some point. To make matters worse for Oladipo, though, he had to figure out how to succeed against one of the best in the game.
However, Oladipo didn’t even care if it was LeBron or any other NBA legend he had to face. He was focused on winning.
Focused on the outcome, not the opponent
“I remember being in there like, ‘Whatever.’ It didn’t matter who they put out there. It could’ve been him, it could’ve been Jordan; we’re going at their neck,” Oladipo stated.
Big talk coming from the young Victor at the time, but it shows how confident he was in his abilities. That season, he averaged 23 points per game and led the league with 2.4 steals per game. Oladipo ended up winning the Most Improved Player Award and also received MVP votes. So, he had a reason to be confident.
Yet, Victor knew that he had to beat LeBron in that series or else all of his accomplishments would be forgotten. It didn’t matter what awards he won or what his stats showed; he had to go out there and prove it against the best.
“People think that’s his best year in the league,” Oladipo said about LeBron. “And I was watching him, and he just knew when to turn it on… In Game 1, he was good, but in Game 2, he scored the first 15 points.”
All Victor could do was laugh when thinking back on the game. In Game 1, he dropped 32 and led the Pacers to a 98-80 win on the road. But in Game 2, LeBron made his presence felt with the opening run, and they never looked back, beating the Pacers 100-97.
In Game 3, Oladipo thought he would be able to go home to Indiana and get comfortable finally. But he just couldn’t. That’s how overbearing the pressure of the playoffs was for him. Yet, the Pacers still won behind a great performance from the supporting cast. Bojan Bogdanovic led the team with 30 points.
LeBron ended up getting the better of Oladipo in Game 4, though. This time, it was the supporting cast that let the Pacers down. Oladipo had to carry the load in Game 5, but a missed goaltending call against him and a buzzer-beater for LeBron pushed them to the brink.
So near, yet so far for Victor Oladipo
Victor responded with a triple-double and a 121-87 victory at home. Then, it was the Cavs that were pushed to the brink, having to play a win-or-go-home game on their home court in a season with high expectations.
But Oladipo and the Pacers came up short, losing 105-101. It was a devastating loss for him.
“I really thought we was going to win that game, I cried so hard… I remember being so exhausted emotionally that I just broke down because it was like they weren’t better than us. That’s what I truly, truly felt in my heart,” Oladipo said.
The games you lose that you feel you should win hit the hardest. The missed opportunities and mistakes that prevented you from winning keep you up at night. But you’re bound to go through it if you play for long enough. Victor Oladipo went through this in 2018.
Ultimately, it was the best season of Victor’s career. He never won any more awards and only made one more All-Star team after that season. But he would later go on to make the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 with the Miami Heat.
The Cavs and LeBron would go on to the NBA Finals, where they would lose to the Kevin Durant-led Warriors in a sweep.
