What better way to show people that you’re all the way back, then by returning to the scene of the accident.
When Paul George shattered his right leg during a USA Basketball scrimmage in Las Vegas in August, many wondered aloud about the need for NBA players in international competition.
George may not play for the Pacers this season amid concerns about team chemistry, but NBA.com’s John Schuhmann is reporting that the star shooting guard will return to Las Vegas for some summer work with Team USA.
As a result of its gold medal victory in last year’s World Cup of Basketball, the U.S. has qualified for the [2016] Rio [Olympic] games and won’t be participating in this summer’s FIBA Americas tournament, where two more Olympic bids will be earned. But the U.S. will bring together staff and players in Las Vegas for a four-day mini-camp in August. Potential Olympians were notified of the camp last fall, and the USA Basketball staff has been in communication with them throughout the season. […]
This summer’s mini-camp will include another exhibition game at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV, where George snapped his right leg against the bottom of the basket stanchion last Aug. 1. The stanchions at Thomas & Mack have since been replaced by ones that are further from the court.
Though George has been practicing with the Indiana Pacers for three weeks, he has yet to decide if he’ll play this season. But he told NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner on Wednesday that his summer plans won’t change whether or not he plays between now and the end of the Pacers’ season. And when asked about the mini-camp, he was clear that he intends to be there.
“I’m in,” George said. “Of course.”
“The day it happened,” George added, referencing his injury, “right after, I told them I looked forward to continuing on with USA basketball.”
And right after the injury, Team USA’s brass told George he’d be welcomed back to the fold for the 2016 Olympics with open arms:Wanting to add to George’s motivation during the comeback from a broken right leg, [USA Basketball managing director] Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski have also already made it clear to the Pacers small forward that he is expected to be in the lineup in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“We’ve told him we have a spot for him in ’16,” Colangelo told NBA.com at festivities Thursday in advance of the Friday enshrinement of the Hall of Fame class.
Without seeing how he comes back?
“Right,” said Colangelo, also the Hall chairman. “That’s what we told him.
Huge kudos to George for returning, and I believe that a positive return to the Thomas & Mack center would work wonders for him entering next season.