Miami’s Victor Oladipo tore his patellar tendon and will be out for the rest of the campaign as he undergoes surgery

The crowd at the Kaseya Center turned dead silent as Miami’s Victor Oladipo sat on the court holding his left knee in pain. This wasn’t the first time the player suffers a long-term injury, and his teammates reactions on court foretold what was to come for the 30-year-old. 

As Max Strus covered his face with a towel, Jimmy Butler held his head in his hands in disbelief, and Kyle Lowry yelled in awe of the situation. You could already tell the Oladipo was hurt badly.

Take a look at the play that will keep the Heat athlete out of action for several months:

Victor Oladipo leaves the floor after injuring his left knee.

Sending good vibes to @VicOladipo from Heat Nation.@MiamiHEAT | #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/Ju1L8Y2DnD

— Bally Sports Sun: HEAT (@BallyHEAT) April 23, 2023

The Heat’s medical staff announced this past Sunday that their shooting guard has torn his left patellar tendon just as the MRI diagnosis came in. This means Oladipo’s campaign has come to an end and even questions if he’ll be healthy for the start of next season.

“Yes, there are injuries. That is a part of this game. We understand that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Sunday. “But the human side of it, when you see somebody that’s overcome so much and he’s done it time and time and time again, and he always does it with an incredible positive spirit and a smile on his face even last night … that’s why I admire him so much.”

This will be his third major surgery in only four years, as the other two came after a quadriceps injury to his right knee. For now, there probably won’t be any timetable for his return until he’s been through the surgery.

In only three playoff games so far, this is already the second significant injury for the Miami club, as Tyler Herro broke his right hand in Game 1 at Milwaukee, and will be out for at least six weeks. This means it’s also the end of the season for him, except if the Heat make it to the NBA Finals by the end of May.

Herro’s injury seemed to open a door for Oladipo, but now they are both out

As Tyler’s injury meant that the 30-year-old would enjoy a bigger role in his squad’s guard rotation, he only was able to play 26 minutes in Game 2, and 19 in this weekend’s contest before falling to the floor and tearing his tendon.

“The physical toll of rehab is tough but mentally, it’s even tougher,” said Heat center Cody Zeller, who played with Oladipo in Indiana. “And he’s always so positive. He’ll attack this rehab like he has the others. Mentally, I don’t know how he does it. There’s a lot of long days, a lot of slow days and it’s tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m just sick for him.”

Check out Doctor Brian Sutterer’s explanation of Oladipo’s serious knee injury:

The shooting guard has now been out for 255 of a possible 374 matches since he first got injured while playing for the Pacers back in 2019. Oladipo had been listed as inactive during 226 of those contests, the second-most in the league over that timeframe only behind Magic’s Jonathan Isaac.

“I think of all these times behind the scenes when no one’s watching,” Spoelstra said. “I feel like I’ve had a front-row seat to that on all these off days the last three years, on weekends when no one is here — but he’s on the training table, and then working his way to the weight room, usually like a four- or five-hour process and then finishing up with all the post-rehab work. … Those can be very frustrating times, but you never would see that on his face.”