Q&A: Victor Oladipo on investing in hard workers, talking investments in the locker room, and leadership.
The two-time All-Star joins joins Brian Berger on Sports Business Radio from the Bloomberg Players Tech Summit.
BRIAN: I’m here with Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers, we’re at the Bloomberg Players Tech Summit here in San Francisco. Victor what brings you here? I know there’s a lot of other players here. Are you an investor?
VICTOR: Yes, I’ve invested in a few companies. We have been doing this for a while now. It’s been nothing short of amazing since I walked in here, seeing everybody. I’m glad to be a part of it.
BRIAN: Beyond Meat IPO’d and did pretty darn well. You’ve gotta be pretty happy!
VICTOR: Yeah, for sure! I got lucky, definitely, with that. But, I was in the right place at the right time, and I happened to know the right people.
BRIAN: What do you look for when you’re investing? Is there a criteria? Some people say the founder is the key thing for them. What’s your criteria?
VICTOR: I was always told that the man or the woman you invest with must to be a hard worker. It’s about what they are personally. If they have the right character, then it lets you know that they’re going to do whatever it takes.
BRIAN: Do you, in the locker room or even at an event like this, talk investing? Like, I know a lot of guys talk hoops and things like that. Do you talk investing?
VICTOR: Yea, I had just recently started talking investing because of one of my teammates. So, now when I hit him up that’s all that we talk about now. It’s pretty cool, the fact that I have somebody that I know that I can relate to, that I can talk to and feel comfortable talking about anything.
BRIAN: I want to ask you about your rehab from your injury in a minute but, when something like that happened, does it make you evaluate how important investing and protecting your money is? Because, there’s no guarantee — I’m sure you’re gonna come back fine — but there’s, I would think something like that might make you stop and take pause.
VICTOR: Oh yea, definitely! But, I think that it definitely started when I got traded the second time. Whether you want it to or not, it starts having you question your goals and your actions that come along with it. You start realizing that it gets deeper than basketball, and you need to be able to make sure that you’re prepared for the future.
BRIAN: As far as the offseason going on right now, we were kind of talking about it before; this is like, the busy time — NBA free agency. I feel like there’s as much chatter about the NBA now as there is during the season when games are happening. How closely do you follow all the movement?
VICTOR: I’m still competitive so, I follow it very closely. Um, just watching to see what other teams (are) doing; see what we can do to get better. It’s kinda like a chess game in the end.
BRIAN: You’re a real leader for the Pacers. I know on other teams you’ve been on, not that you haven’t been a leader, but there have been other people there. It seems like you’re more prominent as the leader with the Pacers. How have you made that transition? Are you more of a vocal leader, a leader by example, or both?
VICTOR: Honestly, you’ve just got to be aware of the people you’re talking to. There’s a time and place for everything, so I guess you’d say both. But, there’s a time and place where you should lead by example, and there’s time and place where you need to say something.
BRIAN: Well, Victor, best of luck with your rehab. I look forward to seeing you back on the court next season; and nice meeting you!
VICTOR: Nice meeting you too.
Listen to the whole episode of the Sports Business Radio Podcast:
Sports Business Radio focuses on the issues and people directly impacting the world of sports business. Guests on the show offer an insider’s perspective include pro sports league executives, agents, college athletics administrators, sports apparel company reps, ad agency executives, media executives and athletes.
