A Primer On Victor Oladipo, The Masked Singer‘s Thingamajig

As The Masked Singer season 2 winds down, there are only a few mysteries still waiting to be unmasked, and one of them was which celeb was the superbly costumed Thingamajig. This smooth-voiced singer with the year's tallest costume could really only be one person: NBA star Victor Oladipo. On December 11, fans were rewarded with the reveal they'd all be spot-on about guessing, but if you're not a sports fan, then you may be wondering who this dude is.

There have been plenty of clues suggesting this particular singer could be a magician by day, but many fans didn't let the card tricks fool them. Thingamajig was confirmed to be an athlete, and once you get to know Oladipo a little bit better you'll see why people were so sure it was him.

The 27-year-old NBA star was born and raised in Maryland, and he has played basketball his whole life. He started his professional career by playing for the Indiana Hoosiers at the college level before he was drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2013 (ahem). He went on to be named to the NBA All-Rookie first team before being traded to the Indiana Pacers in 2017. He's still on the team, but in January 2019, Oladipo suffered a serious knee injury that forced him to sit out the most recent season as he recovered. 

Yes, he does have experience as a singer. In 2018, he released his debut album V.O., showcasing his soulful vocal talents and proving that he has musical ambitions that could rival his athleticism. 

It all comes down to the clues. Right from the start, magic has played a key role in Thingamajig's clue packages, but that's a clever bit of sleight of hand. Remember, Oladipo got his start playing for Orlando Magic. In one package, he said, "What’s that he has? A magic case? Come on you all, keep up the pace!" This was a reference to his current team the Pacers. Plus, the number four has been prominent in the hints — which just so happens to be the NBA star's jersey number. More recently, there was an envelope featuring Maryland shown in his clue package, which was a nod to his home state. 

In episode 6, Thingamajig said an American Sign Language dictionary "taught me to communicate with others, which is the most important thingamajig." Oladipo's older sister Kendra went deaf in the second grade, and she's had a profound impact on his life. In 2015, The Washington Post reported that the NBA star gave a talk at the school where Kendra now teaches. Glenn Lockhart of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center said, "He talked about himself as an example of success from hard work and how he would set high — and then even higher — expectations for himself. It was wonderful to know that he called his deaf sister Kendra one of the biggest influences on his life."

From his jersey number to his sister's influence on his life, it's been pretty clear that Oladipo was the singer under Thingamajig's mask.