Paul George has now joined that unfortunate fraternity of basketball players who have suffered gruesome leg injuries right before our very eyes. In case you missed it and feel the need to see the play, assuming you have the stomach for it, it is easy to find on the Internet.
But trust us: the outcome is every bit as horrific as the injury Shaun Livingston suffered in 2007 and just as devastating Kevin Ware’s fracture last year. There is one significant difference, of course. Livingston was injured on a February night, right smack in the middle of the NBA season. Ware’s injury occurred during the NCAA Tournament.
George left the Thomas & Mack Center on a stretcher on a hot Las Vegas night in August, which is normally a dead period for the NBA. The timing of the injury supports Mark Cuban’s argument that NBA players, especially those on max contracts, owe it to the clubs that pay them to graciously decline an invitation to play for the national team.
Cuban is not alone, but the Dallas Mavericks owner is the most vocal. And now he has George as Exhibit A as why franchise players should always choose club over country. George, the Indiana Pacers’ supremely talented small forward, had surgery late Friday and will likely miss the entire 2014-15 season. Who can say if he’ll ever recapture his All-Star form? It is simply awful news for George as well as for Larry Bird and the Pacers.
For USA Basketball, this is far worse than failing to capture gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. That disappointing finish created the opportunity for USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo to rally our best players on home soil to recommit themselves to the national team. And it worked. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have appeared in three straight Olympics. Kobe Bryant showed up in London two years ago.
George’s injury won’t lead to a mass exodus but it will have an impact. George already has a max contract. But what about the player who is one year away from free agency? Do you honestly believe any agent will encourage his client to spend the summer with the national team?
Minnesota’s Kevin Love withdrew from the team for that very reason last week. He’s one season away from a max contract and will likely be traded to Cleveland before the start of the season. Love and his agent, Jeff Schwartz, simply couldn’t risk everything for a gold medal at the World Cup in Spain that guarantees Olympic qualification.
Fair enough. But the idea that playing for the national team is a risk no player should take is an overreaction to a horrible freak accident. NBA players can get hurt just as easily during a pickup game at Rucker Park or in a charity game on a high school court.
France’s Tony Parker nearly missed the 2012 Olympics due to an eye injury caused not during a training session but rather with him as an innocent bystander during a brawl between members of Chris Brown and Drake’s entourages at a Manhattan night spot. Is your favorite All-Star at greater risk with the national team or when he hops into his expensive sports car and jumps on the highway?
Think of it this way — James was the toast of the London Olympics, having just won his first NBA title in June. That summer he captured the gold medal and months later was named league MVP and Finals MVP while leading the Miami Heat to back-to-back titles. Carmelo Anthony followed his stellar performance in London by leading the Knicks to 54 regular-season wins while finishing third in the MVP voting.
There does reach a point where players need to use better judgment. James and Anthony took this summer off and are undecided about the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Honestly, they’re at a stage in their careers where retiring from the national team makes sense.
No one has played more international games than San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili, who was set to play for Argentina again until the Spurs encouraged him to use common sense. For one, Ginobili is now 37. Also, he was diagnosed with a stress fracture after the NBA Finals and although he is expected to be fully healed by the start of the FIBA tournament, the Spurs advised him to rest until training camp.
Paul George is only 24. He is one of the top athletes in the world. He was simply making an aggressive play and ended up slamming his foot against a basket stanchion and his leg bent in gruesome fashion. The basket stanchion appeared to be too close to the baseline, and if that truly was the case, USA Basketball needs to explain why.
But it was still a freak accident, one that can happen anytime or anywhere. No matter what uniform George was wearing.
