Recap: Victor Oladipo on The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Orlando Magic rookie Victor Oladipo will make his NBA debut on October 29 in Indianapolis and the former Indiana All-American joined Colin Cowherd on Thursday morning for an interview on ESPN Radio.
The interview touched on a variety of topics, including Oladipo’s work ethic, how he improved over three years in Bloomington, compensation for college athletes and more. Here’s a recap:
On whether he heard the talk of being the player with the most upside leading up to the NBA Draft:
“I heard it a few times, but at the end of the day I feel like I have a lot to work on. I feel like I have a lot to improve on and I haven’t even scratched the surface of how good I can be. I still feel like there are some people who feel like I got drafted too high and there’s some people who believe I’m not as good as people think I am or stuff like that. I’ll always have a chip on my shoulder, always have, and I pretty much always will.”
On where the chip on his shoulder comes from:
“Just constantly growing up and getting overlooked. Just constantly people telling me I’m not good enough, I’m one dimensional and can only do one thing. I’ve always had that chip on my shoulder when I was younger until now. I’m always going to have it because I feel like there are a lot of people out there who second guess me and I’m just going to continue believing in myself and keep working so I can help my team win.”
On what kind of player he believes he can be ultimately:
“I believe I can be one of the best to play the game if I put my mind to it and really keep growing and working hard, the sky is the limit for me and the Orlando Magic program.”
On what he added to his game in college and why he got so much better at Indiana:
“I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff there. Coach (Tom) Crean and his assistant coaches were just pushing me. Constantly making uncomfortable things comfortable and comfortable things consistent. They definitely made me come off of ball screens, which I didn’t do in high school, made me handle the ball a lot, made me make decisions that I didn’t have to make in high school and made me a vocal leader. Credit them for doing that and just the constant work ethic that I have, staying in the gym and working on my game.”
On why he loves defense:
“Growing up, that’s pretty much all I can do and in order for me to get on the floor, that’s what I had to do. Throughout my high school career, Indiana and now, it’s all about guarding the other team’s best player and slowing them down so my team has a better chance of winning. My game is still about defense so I feel like when I go out there I’ll guard the other team’s best player whoever that may be. If I slow them down, my team has a better chance of winning, that’s why I play defense with such pride.”
On who he credits for his work ethic:
“I give a lot of credit to my mother and my father just seeing how they had to come over from Nigeria and find a better life for themselves and for us. Just seeing how rough it was growing up and trying to basically survive so we could have a better life, how hard they used to have to work and sometimes not even see them throughout the day, not seeing them until the night time so we could have a better life. It kind of rubbed off on me and in order for me to achieve my goals and in order for me to be great like I want to, I know I have to work really hard and I think that’s why I do that now.”
On whether he felt like he needed to be paid while in college:
“I wasn’t even really worried about that topic. It was a great experience, my college career, and I wouldn’t change anything that I had. I wouldn’t change anything that I went through. Some people might believe that they do (deserve to be paid). You have some good reasons why people should get paid and you have some reasons why they shouldn’t. You can take both spectrums of the situation and make a positive assessment about it, but at the end of the day, I like it the way it is.”
On what it will be like to play in his first NBA game:
“It’s going to be a surreal feeling. You’ve been dreaming it all your life since you were a little kid and for you to actually live out your dream and step on the floor and put on the NBA jersey and play in the NBA and for the Orlando Magic, it’s really a blessing. I’m just going to continue counting them and hopefully the man upstairs keeps blessing me continuously.”
Filed to: Victor Oladipo