LAS VEGAS– The U.S. national team’s intrasquad scrimmage here at the Thomas and Mack Arena on the campus of UNLV came to a traumatic and duisturbing halt here last night.
With 9:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, All Star forward Paul George suffered a horrific broken leg when he leaped to contest a fast break layup by James Harden and his leg smashed against the bottom of the backboard stanchion and crumpled at a 90 degree angle. ESPN showed the replay once and it appears that George snapped the fibula and tibia right in the middle of the leg and will definitely require surgery. If so, he could miss anywhere between nine and 12 months.
Trainers immediately rushed onto the floor and after 10 minutes of stoppage, George was taken out of the arena on a stretcher and rushed to a nearby hospital. The players were visibly upset and national team coach Mike Krzyzewski announced to the crowd that the scrimmage was over out of respect to George and his family, who were at the game. ..
“There’s no way the game could have gone on under the circumstances,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said.
The White team led George’s Blue team 81-71.
Even though George had an uneventful scrimmage, he was considered a lock to make the final 12-man roster for the World Cup of Basketball that starts later this month in Spain. The injury was a fluke, but it brought back gruesome memories of the broken leg that Louisville’s Kevin Ware suffered in the 2013 NCAA Elite Eight game against Krzyzewski’s Duke team in Indianapolis. Ware landed awkwardly while attempting to block a shot– just like George.
“You just think how is this even possible,” Ware told ESPN on Friday night. I just went into automatic shock. I was just speechless. Nothing I’d ever seen in my life.”
“Once your adrenaline gets back to normal, the actual breaking-your-leg pain starts to kick in,” he added. “It’s really hard to deal with. Even with the medication it’s tough.”
“It’s going to take time and patience,” Ware added, “but he’ll be perfectly fine.”
George himself tweeted from the hospital, saying: ”Thanks everybody for the love and support.. I’ll be ok and be back better than ever!!! Love y’all!! #YoungTrece.”
The Americans planned to reduce the 20-play pool to 14 or 15 players Saturday, but put off those plans after George’s injury.
“Everything’s on hold right and it should be,” Krzyzewski said. “It would be so inappropriate for us to talk about anything else when there’s a serious injury like this.”
Ironically, the injury might have been prevented had the game been played in an NBA arena, where the stanchions are located father back from the baseline to accommodate the size of the players involved instead of a college arena. It is something to think about going forward.
Krzyzewski kept the players away from the media, but if a picture is worth a thousand words that the one of Cleveland’s young point guard Kyrie Irving sobbing in his father’s arms spoke volumes. “It’s a huge blow, not only for USA Basketball but for Paul,” Colangelo said. “It”s a first for us. It’s a tough situation for our coaches and players. It puts things in perspective.”
The defending champion U.S. team had already been weakened by player losses. Forwards Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard had all pulled out in recent weeks. Even though George did not distinguish himself in the scrimmage, he would have been a candidate to start for the Americans alongside Kevin Durant. Krzyzewski and Colangelo refused to discuss the roster after the game, saying they didn’t even know when they would make roster reductions. “We just need to take a step back before we do anything at all,” Colangelo said.
George led the Pacers to the best record in the Eastern Conference before they were eliminated by Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. But his injury could force other high priced players to reassess whether they want to risk their careers by playing international competitions in a non-Olympic year in the future and could even turn the Olympics into a 23-and-under event if estalbished stars, who are making millions, choose to step away all together.
“We are aware of the injury sustained by Paul George in Friday night’s Team USA game in Las Vegas and we are obviously greatly concerned,” Pacers President Larry Bird said in a statement. “At this time our thoughts and prayers are with Paul. We are still gathering details and will have an updated statement Saturday.”
The Pacers, who have already lost Lance Stephenson to free agency, could become a lottery team overnight if George is out for the season, as expected.
The Americans have to be down to 12 players before they open the tournament on Aug. 30. The U.S. is scheduled to take the next week off before reconvening in Chicago for its next practice on Aug. 14. Without George, Krzyzewswki may have to shift star Kevin Durant back to small forward and play a front line of power forward Anthony Davis and center DeMarcus Cousins.
