After suffering a gruesome leg injury during Friday night's USA basketball intrasquad scrimmage, star underwent surgery and is expected to miss the entire 2014-15 season.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports was among the first to report the news of George's prognosis:
Pacers guard Paul George had a good surgery. No ancillary damage but likely out for next season, a source told Yahoo Sports.
Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo)
The injury occurred during the fourth quarter of the Blue vs. White game in preparation of the FIBA World Cup when George attempted to block a shot by guard . George's foot unluckily got caught under the stanchion at the bottom of the basket, which caused his leg to bend in an unnatural and horrifying way.
Following George's injury, the game was cut short as George's teammates and coaches were clearly rattled by the situation.
According to ESPN's Mark Jones, George's injuries were specifically compound fractures of both the tibia and the fibula in his right leg:
Paul George suffered compound fracture of the tibia fibula.He s expected to have a rod placed in his leg during 2 hour surgical procedure
MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN)
With the surgery now completed, Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star is reporting that George will remain hospitalized for a couple more days:
Paul George expected to be hospitalized 2-3 days in Las Vegas.
Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner)
One can only assume that George is devastated by the injury and the news that he is expected to miss a significant amount of time. Even so, he has remained optimistic.
As seen in this tweet from George just two hours after suffering the injury, he is confident that he will bounce back eventually:
Thanks everybody for the love and support.. I ll be ok and be back better than ever!!! Love y all!!
Paul George (@Paul_George24)
Jimmy Spencer of Fox Sports is among those who echoed that sentiment as he pointed toward the quality traits that George has on his side:
Paul George is young,Oakley Clear Lenses, has ridiculous work ethic and the break was due to a freak occurrence. I definitely think he ll one day return to form
Jimmy Spencer (@JimmySpencerNBA)
According to , Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard also has all the confidence in the world that George will do everything in his power to recover and return to elite form.
The biggest thing is this,Discount Oakley Sunglasses, the one thing we're just in awe of is No. 1 how strong Paul is. I don't think anybody left there before he went into surgery thinking this kid is done. This kid is coming back better. And No. 2 was the outreach has been off the charts. He's talked to all the major players in our league and that was amazing to see and hear.
For as bad as the injury looked, there may still be a glimmer of hope for George as it relates to the upcoming season. While it is likely that George will miss the entirety of the upcoming campaign, ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne reports that it isn't guaranteed:
Paul George is out of surgery. Word is it went well and there s hope he could return before end of next year, but probably miss season
Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne)
Even if George does miraculously return to action at some point next season, this is obviously devastating for the Pacers. They have lost to the in the Eastern Conference Finals each of the past two seasons, but they will be hard-pressed to make it back to that point this year.
Indiana already Lance Stephenson to the in free agency and didn't sufficiently replace him. Now, they will be without a player who averaged nearly 22 points,Oakley Xx, seven rebounds and four assists per game last season in the form of George.
It is likely that all of George's Pacers teammates are taken aback by the incident, and that includes center :
n his family are in my thoughts. Still can t believe it
Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer)
As a two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Third Team selection and an NBA All-Defensive First Team choice, George is an indispensable player who is simply impossible to replace.
Not surprisingly, this injury has already sparked debate regarding the use of NBA players in international competition. The Pacers now know firsthand what it is like to lose a superstar because of it, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports believes it could cause the most powerful people in the league to take a stand:
Owners and GMs united tonight: Paul George injury could be tipping point for use of stars in international play. Game-changer, GM told me.
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA)
Although that would be a highly unfortunate situation for fans who love to see the world's best players clash on the international stage, it is tough to blame league executives for feeling that way.
Should the NBA pull players from international competition moving forward?