Victor Oladipo is going through the NBA’s concussion protocols and the road to his return to the court is very uncertain. Others will have to step up.
In an instant, Victor Oladipo’s season likely changed.
In what way no one is quite sure at this point. And they may not really know until he finally gets back on the court.
In the first quarter of Wednesday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Victor Oladipo went for a loose ball and ran into Dewayne Dedmon‘s shoulder. He certainly looked a bit dizzy as he stood up and tried to run down the floor. The Magic got a timeout, removed Oladipo from the game and he was done for the night with concussion-like symptoms.
The symptoms triggered the NBA’s concussion protocol.
At practice on Thursday, coach Scott Skiles said Oladipo was not with the team at the Amway Center to rest. He was scheduled to see a doctor at some point Thursday for an evaluation.
On Magic DriveTime on Thursday afternoon, Skiles said there was a 99.9 percent chance Oladipo would not play in Friday’s game at least. He confirmed Oladipo was going through the concussion protocols the league has set up and he failed his baseline test after he was removed from the game.
The NBA concussion protocol is a multi-tiered system of checks against the baseline testing each player performs at the beginning of the season. When a player is diagnosed with a concussion, they do increasingly difficult physical activities — stationary bike to jogging to agility work to non-contact team drills — before being cleared to return to games.
After each step, a player has to show that he has returned to his baseline test and shows no symptoms of a concussion. The team doctor will consult with a league doctor before clearing the player to return to play.
It is not an injury that has any predictable timetable. Oladipo could get through two or three steps of the protocol Friday and be ready to play Saturday, or the injury could linger a little longer. It is not particularly clear how severe his concussion is.
There may not be an answer to that question.
Thunderous Intentions
Nikola Vucevic knows that first hand. In 2014, Vucevic had a massive fall in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He was diagnosed with a concussion and missed the next 12 games and three weeks of play.
It can be a frustrating experience.
“Concussions are tough,” Vucevic said Thursday. “I dealt with a pretty big one two years ago when I fell on my head. With those ones, you’ve got to take your time. You have to be smart with it. It’s your brain. It’s the most important part of your body. You have to be smart with it. You can’t take risks and try to be a hero and come back too early.”
Vucevic said the experience of recovering from a concussion is different than his current experience trying to recover from a bone bruise in his knee. Where his current injury is something that he can physically see the swelling go down or the pain dissipate.
Brain injuries like a concussion are not like that. Not at all.
Vucevic’s concussion was particularly bad too. He had a constant headache — a sure sign of a concussion — and could not be in lighted rooms, watch TV or look at digital screens. He even could not lie down fully.
It was a truly debilitating injury.
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That might be the bad end of the spectrum. Concussion symptoms can fall on a wide range and they can come and go as the days go on. The big piece of advice Vucevic had for his teammate was for him to listen to the doctors and take his time coming back.
The Magic will have to find a way to recover and bounce back from the injuries yet again.
“It’s very unfortunate, but we cannot feel sorry,” Evan Fournier said. “We have to play harder. Everybody has to step up just like we did when Vuc was out. We’re going to be fine. I think we have the right pieces to win even without Vic. It’s just a matter of intensity and focus.”
That means more responsibility for Fournier — who started last season while Oladipo nursed a facial fracture to start the season — and Tobias Harris. It means more opportunity for Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja and Shabazz Napier (particularly with C.J. Watson and Jason Smith also likely to miss Friday’s game).
In light of Napier’s strong performance Wednesday, and generally his overall solid play throughout the young season, Skiles said he is trying to get Napier more minutes.
This is his opportunity to push for a more solid spot in the rotation.
The team is certainly incomplete now. Losing one of its best players in Victor Oladipo for an indefinite time will hurt. But the Magic do have the potential depth to recover and step up. They will have to show that off again to survive for however long Oladipo is out.
And Oladipo’s job now is to take care of himself, listen to his body and come back when he is fully recovered.