George expected to miss the entire season next year…
Indiana Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard has insisted that the franchise are not putting a timetable on Paul George’s return from a broken leg.
The 24-year-old suffered the freak injury during an exhibition game for Team USA as he collided with the basket stanchion and forced his leg to buckle underneath him.
George sustained an open tibia-fibula fracture and after having immediate surgery in Las Vegas, he is expected to remain in hospital for three days with many suggesting that it could take him up to a year before he can return to the court.
Nevertheless, Pritchard insists that the Pacers franchise will be there to support George in any way possible and ultimately there is no fear over whether or not he will be able to return at all with the consensus being that he will take as much time as necessary to recover.
“What I’ve learned through this process is that it’s not ]career-ending],” Pritchard told the Indianapolis Star on Saturday.
“It’s actually a good thing. It’s bone and bone only. It doesn’t look like any soft-tissue damage. We’re not trying to project when he’s coming back, just trying to get him through this week and then we’ll know more, but the biggest risk right now is infection. That looks really good right now. They just changed his dressing and it looks really good.
“I have no fear he’ll be back and back in a big way. We’re not going to put a timetable on it but I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll be back.”
President of basketball operations Larry Bird has echoed the sentiments in that Indiana will not speculate on when George will return as their immediate concern is his health and any discussion of the impact it will have on the franchise as a whole is inappropriate at this time.
However, that hasn’t prevented the media from discussing the likely implications of the injury, with some sections suggesting that the Pacers may well have to consider their roster options this summer as ultimately they will likely be unable to compete with their rivals in the Eastern Conference having lost Lance Stephenson in a trade deal and now George to injury.
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