Victor Oladipo received a welcome lift Friday. The stitches underneath his right eye were removed. It brightened his day.
Under normal circumstances, such a simple thing like having stitches out wouldn’t make a dent in Oladipo’s typically cheerful mood.
But these aren’t normal circumstances.
“It’s been a loooong week, man,” Oladipo said. “It’s been a really long week.”
Weeks don’t get much more rotten than the one Oladipo just endured.
On Oct. 23, Oladipo suffered a facial fracture when he collided with a teammate during a practice. Two days later, he underwent surgery to repair the injury. And over the last few days, he watched on TV as his Orlando Magic teammates lost their season opener in New Orleans and watched from the bench as the Magic lost their home opener.
On Friday, he displayed signs of his old self, even though the area underneath his right eye was puffy and slightly discolored.
After he spoke with reporters for the first time since his injury, he took a few free throws. Wearing a “White Men Can’t Jump” T-shirt and sweatpants, he even felt spry enough to practice a few jab steps and bounce a basketball with his friend and teammate Maurice Harkless.
“He’s always positive,” Harkless said. “He’s been that way ever since I met him. I’m sure he’ll continue to stay that way.”
Still, the last month was difficult.
On Oct. 3, Oladipo sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a training camp scrimmage.
The injury healed, and on Oct. 23, he participated in the team’s practice with the hope of playing in the Magic’s preseason finale the next day.
But the practice went badly.
In one of the first drills, a teammate’s elbow struck Oladipo underneath his right eye.
“It felt like a bat hit me in the face,” Oladipo recalled. “It was that painful.”
The surgery to repair his facial fracture was the first surgery Oladipo ever had.
He was fortunate that his mom, Joan Oladipo, a registered nurse who lives in Maryland, already had been scheduled to visit him in Orlando.
She stayed by his side in the days after the surgery.
And she was joined by Victor’s twin sister, Victoria.
“If they weren’t here, I really wouldn’t know what I would do,” Victor said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if my mom wasn’t here, to be honest with you. That’s what she’s here for. It’s hard to explain. It’s your mom. There’s nothing like it. It’s different.
“You’ve got to have her here. Especially with stuff like that, you’ve got to have her here. She was here. She woke up early. She was there the whole time. She’s the first person I saw when I woke up.”
One day after the surgery, Harkless, Devyn Marble, Kyle O’Quinn and Elfrid Payton visited Oladipo at his home over dinner.
“It meant a lot to me,” Oladipo said. “It did, because it was tough just laying there and not really being able to do anything, just pretty much sleeping. It was tough. And to see them come over and have a good time and us to just chill and talk and play videogames was pretty cool. So I’m glad that they did that, because it definitely helped my heart and helped my spirits as well.”
Now, Oladipo can start concentrating on his recovery.
He and Magic officials aren’t publicly stating a timetable for his return, but his return might occur within three weeks.
When he does return, he’ll almost certainly have to wear a mask to protect the area under his right eye.
“When you go out there and hoop, you’re not really worried about what you’re wearing, anyway,” he said. “When you’re out there playing, after a while it’s just like, ‘Just go play.’ It kind of flows. I’m just looking forward to getting back and playing with these guys.”
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
