Victor Oladipo Says He's Using Dan Gilbert's Comments To Fuel Him This Series

[ESPN] - “You could say it added fuel to the fire, I guess you could say,” Oladipo said after Game 1. “But that was so long ago. It came up recently, obviously, because we were playing the Cavs in the series, but I’m aware of what he said. Can’t control his opinion. All I’m focused on is myself and becoming the best Victor Oladipo possible.”

Listen, I love pettiness. It’s one of the most hilarious things in sports and we have that going right now. Victor Oladipo, who was notoriously traded from Oklahoma City to Indiana for Paul George is using some of the stuff Dan Gilbert said at the time of the trade to fuel him during this first round against the Cavs. More importantly, he’s speaking in first person, which is always, ALWAYS, hilarious.

If you don’t remember, Gilbert made a statement after the Pacers executed the trade saying he felt ‘they could have done better than what they did.’ Now, that came from Gilbert mostly because he thought he had a trade executed for George. It was reported that the Cavs and Pacers were all but signed off on a deal that would have sent Paul George to the Cavs, Kevin Love to the Nuggets and Gary Harris, Trey Lyles and the Cavs first round pick to the Pacers. The deal was supposedly tentatively agreed upon before Kevin Pritchard, the Pacers GM, backed out of the deal.

So now we have Oladipo, who is the favorite to win Most Improved Player this year, going up against the Cavs. He absolutely murdered them yesterday, especially in pull up jumpers. He finished with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in the Pacers dominating win in Cleveland. He was absolutely the best player on the court yesterday as he played confidently and within the game. He never felt like he was taking a rushed shot as he would calmly clear out at the top of the key, take a couple break down dribbles and then pull up after creating space. There’s something about getting him in a jersey that says Indiana, I guess.

It’s not shocking at all to see an athlete use a past comment as ‘fuel’ especially when it comes to the playoffs. Personally, I hope Oladipo plays pissed off the entire series because he’s one of the more entertaining players in the league, especially with the way he can ballhawk defensively. I also hope he continues to give interviews where he speaks in first person. Reags likes that.