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Pacers' Oladipo walks without brace on injured knee

Roughly eight weeks ago, Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo was lost for the season to a ruptured quadriceps tendon in his right knee. It still remains unknown when Oladipo will suit up again for the Pacers.

However, based on the latest video posted on social media, Oladipo is proving to be someone who heals quickly.

Oladipo posted a video to his Instagram account today that showed him meeting with his doctor in Miami, where he underwent surgery and began his rehabilitation process.

In the video, a doctor tells Oladipo, “As soon as you feel comfortable without the brace, you can stop wearing the brace. I’d like you to wear it, at least publicly, for the next few weeks. But, in therapy and around the house, I actually don’t want you in the brace … just to get used to it.”

The doctor then commends Oladipo by saying the NBA star’s balance is “fine” and says he is eight weeks and a day from when the surgery took place. Oladipo’s surgery took place on Jan. 28, per the Pacers.

From there, Oladipo then walks the hallway of the doctor’s office without a brace on his right knee.

In the post, Oladipo wrote: “8 weeks and a day post surgery. No brace, No crutches, No problem!!! Shoutout to @jeff_ruiz03 for helping me with PT through my rehab it’s only the beginning!! 2 Timothy 1:7”

The video today comes roughly two weeks after Oladipo posted a video his Instagram account of himself putting up some shots. In that video, which went out on March 12, Oladipo — then wearing a brace on his knee — sits on large box and hits a shot from the top of the key. After making it, he says, “They say you gotta crawl before you can walk.”

Then, he takes a shot from the last wing, sinks it and says, “They say you gotta walk before you can run.”

Lastly, he makes a shot from the right corner and says “Either way, I am truly unbreakable.”

After having his surgery, Oladipo faced an uncertain timetable ahead for his return to the court. The 2019 All-Star guard spoke with the media on a conference call in early February and was taking a day-by-day approach to his recovery.

“At the end of the day I’m a positive butterfly,” Oladipo said on Feb. 11. “I’m not looking too far into the future and I’m not looking at the past; just focused on today and trying to get better every day.”

Oladipo was injured during the second quarter of a Jan. 23 game vs. the Toronto Raptors as he was racing back to defend a transition break. He collapsed as he closed on the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam.

This season, Oladipo was averaging 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 31.9 minutes. At the time of his injury, he ranked third in the NBA in clutch points with 5.1 ppg, was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 3 (Oct. 29-Nov. 4) and was an All-Star last season.

The Pacers have gone 13-14 since Oladipo’s injury and have clinched a playoff berth. At 47-27 overall, Indiana is the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and is on track to host a first-round playoff series.

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Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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