Where I Wanna Be

Victor Oladipo’s Plan to Acquire Generational Wealth Outside of Basketball

The Indiana Pacers star explains his plans to become a household name through hustles both on and off the court

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

Moments before he got on the phone with LEVEL, Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo got tested for Covid-19. Again. That’s life in the NBA bubble. The 28-year-old guard hadn’t even planned to play, instead sitting out to finish recovering from the knee injury that ended his previous season, but 2020 has had a way of disrupting expectations — and here he is, balling in Orlando.

“This has been a restart for me,” says the self-described planner. “Physically, mentally, and spiritually.”

Seven seasons into his career, Oladipo has become an unequivocally elite talent, a two-time All-Star whose Nigerian roots place him alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serge Ibaka, and Joel Embiid in representing Africa on the hardwood. Yet, with free agency coming down the pike after the 2020–21 NBA season, Dipo has some big decisions to make as he prepares to enter his thirties — many of which extend beyond basketball.