If history truly does repeat itself, we can surely bet that Paul George hopes a similar injury suffered nearly two years ago in a USA basketball scrimmage never is suffered again. A broken leg was sure to sideline George for the 2014-15 NBA season but he miraculously rehabbed his was back for the final stretch of the season. But it all came full circle for George this past season, garnering placements on the All-NBA Third team and All-Defensive Second team. Not to mention being on the cover of the upcoming NBA 2K17 video game.
But it appears there is only one thing that truly means a lot to George: being selected as a member of the 2016 Senior Men’s Basketball Olympic team. A chance for the Gold always is an astonishing achievement. But it will perhaps mean more to George-after all that he’s been through the past two years.
Via ESPN:
George already restored his place in the basketball pecking order before this week, making Third-Team All-NBA and All-NBA Defensive Second Team in 2015-16 while putting up better overall numbers than he did for the Indiana Pacers in the season before “the injury.” Resuming his spot within Team USA just brings things full circle.
“It means a lot,” George said after Team USA’s opening practice of training camp in preparation for the Rio Olympics next month. “This is like really a redemption to myself. All the bad that happened on that night, I owed myself this opportunity to come back out here and compete for my country.”
