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It's now been a week since Paul George's devastating injury ended Team USA's scrimmage and sent him out of the arena on a stretcher. As we all know, it was heartbreaking to watch George's leg break from a number of perspectives. On one level, it's never enjoyable to watch a young star lose a year of their prime in such a painful fashion. On another level, Team USA's title hopes in the upcoming FIBA World Cup took a serious blow, as did those of the Indiana Pacers.
However, even though the injury has temporarily derailed George's career, Team USA officials told NBA.com that they want George to know that they'll have a spot open for him when he's ready to return.
"We’ve told him we have a spot for him in ’16," said USA basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo in reference to the 2016 Summer Olympics. "That’s what we told him."
"We thought it’s the right thing to do,” added Colangelo. “That’s it…. We didn’t give thought to all the detail. Just that when a guy goes down and all these things, the circumstances, his career passes before him, he’s out for a year, a year-plus, he’s not able to participate now with us — we wanted to throw that out and say, ‘We’re counting on you. You’ve got a spot in ’16.’"
As Paul faces a long road to recovery, he surely appreciates the gesture. Hopefully, he'll better than ever when he returns, and will be able to lead Team USA back to the top of the podium.
[via Sports Illustrated]