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Oladipo has surgery on knee, but no timetable set for return

Indiana Pacers star guard Victor Oladipo had surgery on the ruptured quad tendon in his right knee today, the team announced. He is expected to make a full recovery, but the team did not provide a timetable for Oladipo’s return.

He was ruled out for the season after suffering his injury last Wednesday vs. Toronto. However, in recent comments, he sounded as confident as ever in returning to his All-Star form.

On Saturday, Oladipo posted a message on Instagram that read, in part: “It’s going to be tough but tough times don’t last tough people do. It’s time for me to truly practice what I preach and trust my God in heaven and the plan he has for me. I will be back better than ever and if you question that well, thank you.”

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I can’t even lie the last few months have been really tough for not only me but for my family as well. You give it your all, literally your blood, sweat and tears to the game you love and things like this happen. No matter how much hard work and effort you put into perfecting your craft you cannot predict the challenges you’ll face ahead. But there is always that point in time where you wonder why it’s happening to you. You even wonder if there was something you could have done differently to prevent the outcome. The confusion, the contemplation, the anger, the sadness and the tears that flow frequently come, but they never last. The amount of support, love and prayers that I have received over the past few days have been breathtaking and has truly inspired me to come back even better than before. Thank you to everyone including all my teammates, pacer fans and staff. Thank you to all the NBA fans around the world and all my brothers around the league who texted, called, tweeted and posted me I am truly thankful. It’s going to be tough but tough times don’t last tough people do. It’s time for me to truly practice what I preach and trust my God in heaven and the plan he has for me. I will be back better than ever and if you question that well, thank you. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world! I am #UnBreakable.

A post shared by Victor Oladipo (@vicoladipo) on

At the time of the injury, Oladipo was averaging 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.9 minutes. He ranks third in the NBA this season in clutch points with 5.1 ppg, and was an All-Star last season.

Concerned reactions — from the hometown fans, players on the court and those watching from afar — quickly began pouring in after Oladipo suffered his injury. The sixth-year guard eventually left the court on a stretcher, raising his arms to acknowledge the crowd. Former Pacers star Paul George, who suffered a catastrophic leg injury while training with Team USA in 2014, chimed in with a show of support via Twitter.

Oladipo thanked everyone for the “breathtaking” and inspirational outpouring of support in the wake of the injury.

Indiana went 7-4 when Oladipo missed 11 games earlier this season with a sore right knee. Since his season-ending injury was made known, the Pacers have gone 0-1, losing 106-103 to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Indiana hosts the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors tonight (7 ET, NBA TV).

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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