Known for his powerful dunks and his ability to shoot the ball accurately into the net, Victor Oladipo has been one of the most effective players for the Indiana Pacers. He has been traded severally after he was selected by the Orlando Magic with the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. Ever since he started the game of basketball, he has bagged a lot of achievements including being named as an NBA All-Star, Sporting News Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year to mention a few. Here is everything you should know about him.
Who is Victor Oladipo and How Old is He?
Originally from the United States of American but has his roots linked to the western part of Nigeria. Victor was born as Kehinde Babatunde Victor Oladipo on May 4, 1992, to Joan Amanze Oladipo and Christopher Oladipo. His mom works as a nurse and is an immigrant from Nigeria, his father who holds a PhD in behavioral science and works as a public health executive is from Blama, Sierra Leone. Victor Oladipo is the only son and is a twin to his sister Victoria, he also has two other sisters, Kristine and Kendra.
The basketball star enrolled at DeMatha Catholic High School and later pursued a degree at Indiana University majoring in sports communication broadcasting. Prior to his commitment to Indiana University, he got a lot of offers from the likes of the University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, Xavier University and a few others.
While at High School, Oladipo got committed to the game of basketball and was good at the sports. In his senior year, he averaged 11.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game. He led his school team to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and the City Championships. The baller set an excellent record and was named to the Washington Post 2010 All-Met First Team and the First Team All-WCAC.
As a freshman at Indiana University, he featured in 32 games and averaged 7.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.06 steals in 18 minutes per game as a shooting guard. the lad recorded his first career start in a battle against Penn State where he recorded 14 points, 5 out of 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists in 27 minutes. In the next season, he averaged 10.9 points in addition to 5.5 rebounds in 26.7 minutes per game. That season, most of his fans referred him to as the best defender of the year.
His years as a junior is regarded as one of the best times of his basketball career. He was named as one of the nation’s biggest stars. This same period, Victor was said to have improved in his skills and has added a lot more energy to his games. At the end of his junior season, he topped as the 4th in the country in field goals having recorded 61.4% beating the record set since the 1996-1997 season. He has also topped as the 3rd in the nation in true shooting with 68.4% and averaged 1.39% points per play, shot 73.9% on offensive rebound putbacks.
He played excellently well through his days at Indiana University and bagged a lot of achievements. Victor Oladipo was named as the Sporting New Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year, the National Co-Defensive player of the year and the USBWA named him as a First-Team All-American. Subsequently, he was also named amongst the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Rivals.com ranked him as the number 41 shooting guard in his class, Scout.com ranked him as the 39th and ESPN ranked him as the 53rd.
NBA Career Stats
Victor Oladipo was selected by the Orlando Magic with the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft after he made his intentions to forgo his senior year at a press conference. Afterwards, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie first team. He was also voted as the best defender, the co-favourite 2013-2014 rookie of the year, the co-favourite to have the best career and the second-most athletic by his rookie class.
He recorded his first career triple-double scoring 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Victor also featured as a rookie in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge where he topped as the second in the dunk contest and also featured in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. In a game against the New York Knicks, Victor Oladipo recorded a career-high 14 assists with 30 points, 9 rebounds and a steal in a 129-121 victory and completed the season topping as the second position for the Rookie of the Year.
The following season, Victor missed a few games after he incurred a facial fracture but returned in the game against the Milwaukee Bucks where he scored 13 points, 3 rebounds in addition to 2 assists under 25 minutes leading to a 101-85 win. After the victory, his team faced the Chicago Bulls and he recorded 33 points, just two days after his game with the bulls he recorded another 30 points against the Houston Rockets.
The Magic extended their contract with the basketballer and he recorded his second triple-double having 21 points, 13 rebounds in addition to 10 assists. He averaged 12.8 points per game in 12 games that season. Subsequently, Victor recorded a season-high point and averaged 17.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.0 steals in addition to 1.4 blocks.
In the 2016 season, the NBA star recorded a team-high 20 points on 8 out of 18 shooting in addition to 5 assists in a loss to the Washington Wizards. He also recorded a team-high eighteen points, seven rebounds, 5 assists in addition to 2 steals in a loss against the Detriot Piston. The season battle played on and Victor recorded 20 points on a career-high six three-pointers in a victory against the Brooklyn Nets. He played on and was later traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The battle became more fierce and he played with the team against the Philadephia 76ers and led them to a victory. He kept a good record while with the team and later was traded to the Indiana Pacers.
The basketballer recorded his first game with the Pacers in a victory against the Brooklyn Nets, recording 22 points, 5 rebounds,4 steals, and 4 assists. He kept leading the team to victory and was later named as the NBA Most Improved Player for the season.
Height
Victor Oladipo is one athlete we would give kudos to his height and looks. He is quite tall and stands at 6 feet 4 inches with a balanced weight of 95kg.
Salary
Having played for a few clubs, Victor has gained a lot of experience and tricks in the game of basketball. With his last contract, he earns an annual salary of $21 million and is estimated to be worth $40 million.
