Victor Oladipo enjoyed a terrific breakout year with the Indiana Pacers last season and has set his sights on reaching even greater heights. The shooting guard's excellent 2017-18 campaign saw him earn a first All-Star appearance and a Most Improved Player award. He posted career-high numbers across the board with 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and a league-leading 2.4 steals per game. Oladipo also shot a career-best 47.7 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range. The Pacers were heavily criticised for giving up Paul George in exchange for the 26-year-old as they believed it didn't represent good value.But he proved everybody wrong as he established himself as a star and a franchise player for Indiana, unexpectedly leading them to the playoffs. 

Aiming high

The former number two overall pick has a huge amount of self-confidence and wants to go down as an all-time great.

“I want to be great," he told Scott Agness of The Athletic. "I’ve been saying that since I walked into this facility and started being a Pacer.

"I want to be one of the greatest to ever play this game. Whatever I got to do to do that, I’m going to try my best to achieve that in the process of winning. That’s the goal.”

Oladipo truly embraced being the go-to guy with the Pacers last season and wasn't afraid of delivering in the big moments. 

His teammate Darren Collison says he can tell that his backcourt partner is comfortable with this role due to his confidence and swagger. 

“Last year he wasn’t sure he could be the guy of a franchise,” Collison said.

"Now I think after having that year under his belt, he’s like, ‘I am the guy and I’m going to lead this team in any way possible.’ You could see it in his swagger.”

In a memorable year, Oladipo was also selected to the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams as he showed that he can impact the game on both ends of the floor. 

The big test for the former Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder guard will be to replicate that and prove it wasn't a fluke. 

Opposing defences will pay much closer attention to him and he'll have to show that he can remain consistent and be a dominant two-way player for multiple seasons to be considered among the best players in the NBA. 

With his prime years still ahead of him, there's no doubt that he can take his game to another level. 

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