The guard was on the court for the first time in almost a year
Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo is back on the court for the first time in nearly two years.
He had 11 points in 15 minutes in the Heat's 123-106 win against the Houston Rockets on Monday at the FTX Arena. Here's what he had to say:
On his return:
"I try to live life without hope, especially after doing it a couple of times. I just try and take it one day at a time and live in the moment. That moment was everything I wanted." And so much more. I'm just blessed and grateful to be playing the sport that I love. To be on this team and be able to play at the highest level, it's really a blessing."
"I want to thank my teammates, because it will be so much easier to play with them. So talented and so great. [I want to] thank my coaching staff for supporting me throughout my rehab and Helped me. The whole training staff here. The doctors, everyone to help me. The upper office. My people, my trainers with whom I work every day. My family. I just want to thank everyone because this Takes a village. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes that you don't see, which help me play at the highest level. They are the real MVPs."
"Looks great. Unbelievable. Words really can't describe it. I applaud him for doing this. It just made that moment even more special. Unfortunately, last year ended the way it did." He did. There are really better days ahead and I am optimistic and I am looking forward to it."
His last vs on this comeback:
"Honestly, it's night and day to be honest with you. I look a lot better than I did when I first came back to Indy. I'm still going strong, better still Getting on. It was great the first time to get my feet wet, but I'm excited. I look forward to the year. I just have to keep getting better. It won't always be perfect, but that's okay. My The mindset will always be like this. I've been resilient ever since I could breathe, so I'm not going to stop now."
What he brings to the team:
"Just do winning plays. At the end of the day, that's what I've done my entire career. I am the winner So at the end of the day, it's what this organization is about, this team is winning. I'm just going to go out there and be myself and everything else will fix itself. ,
On what made his comeback story the greatest:
"I'm going to take it over a day to get it done. At the end of the day, it's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows, but we just have to keep going. It's about the story. It's being able to be flexible." It's about being, bounce back. To really know and understand that it's never really too late. For me, that's all I'm focused on. Getting better and helping this team win Has been doing."