The Orlando Magic have spent the entire preseason without Victor Oladipo because of a knee injury.
Now, players and coaches know for certain he won’t be on the court when they open their regular season in several days.
Oladipo suffered a facial fracture when a teammate’s elbow accidentally struck him underneath his right eye during practice Thursday, coach Jacque Vaughn said.
Oladipo will undergo surgery Saturday, and it’s unclear how many games he’ll miss.
“From Day One, we’ve pushed all our guys towards understanding that in order for us to be successful we have to play as a team,” Vaughn said. “We’re designed as a team. We’re built as a team. And so this is the perfect opportunity where the team will continue to gather around each other and continue to support each other.”
Although Vaughn sought to strike a positive tone, there’s no question the injury is a significant blow to the Magic and to Oladipo, the runner-up for last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Oladipo had recently returned to practice for the first time since he sprained his right knee’s medial collateral ligament on Oct. 3.
When Oladipo crumpled to the ground Thursday, at least some of his teammates worried that Oladipo had re-injured his knee.
“The gym just went silent when he went down,” swingman Maurice Harkless said.
When they saw Oladipo holding his face, many players felt relieved.
That relief evaporated once Oladipo didn’t return to practice.
“It’s tough to see that for anybody, especially someone that’s close to me and on my team,” Harkless said. “I mean, it sucks. He just can’t catch a break, you know? But he’s a tough guy. I’m sure he’ll be fine, and once he gets back, he’ll be better than ever.”
Magic officials — always reticent to provide a timeline on players’ returns from injuries — would not say when they expect Oladipo to play again. They also would not identify the bone that Oladipo fractured.
In recent franchise history, two players have suffered facial fractures: shooting guard Courtney Lee and small forward Hedo Turkoglu.
On April 28, 2009, Lee was struck by an accidental elbow from Dwight Howard during Game 5 of the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, leaving Lee with fractures in his left sinus cavity. Lee underwent surgery two days later and resumed playing again on May 8, wearing a protective mask.
Only 10 days elapsed between Lee’s injury and his return.
On April 5, 2012, Turkoglu was struck by an accidental elbow from Carmelo Anthony on Turkoglu’s right cheekbone. Turkoglu had surgery on April 7 and played in a game again on April 26 as he wore a protective mask.
Twenty days elapsed between Turkoglu’s injury and his return.
Forward Tobias Harris exchanged text messages with Oladipo on Thursday.
“I know he’s real disappointed,” Harris said.
“Vic’s a good guy. He’s going to go through what he has to go through and get back to where he needs to be. So he just has to be patient at this time. I just tell people it’s hard because he hasn’t caught a break. He had the knee and then this. But if anybody can get through it, he’s one of the best guys to get through it and come back.”
Elfrid Payton, Ben Gordon, Evan Fournier, Willie Green, Aaron Gordon, Harkless and Haris will have to take on bigger roles in Oladipo’s absence.
“Vic’s going to be back, and I told him he’s going to be back,” Vaughn said. “And we’re still going to be here, hopefully, when he gets back, and off we go. It could be a lot worse. So you can look at it in a lot of different ways, and he’s going to be OK.”
Josh Robbins covers the Orlando Magic and the NBA for the Orlando Sentinel. You can reach him via e-mail at jbrobbins@tribune.com and connect with him on Facebook at facebook.com/JoshuaBRobbins. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.