The Indiana Pacers are struggling this year, having let go of shooting guard Lance Stephenson in the offseason and then watching their star, Paul George, snap his leg during a Team USA scrimmage ahead of the FIBA World Cup.
George's injury entered the pantheon of worst sports injuries ever, right alongside the likes of Joe Theismann, Marcus Lattimore and Kevin Ware, and in the moment his entire career seemed in jeopardy.
George has been recovering ahead of schedule though, and he's already participating in shooting drills with the team, as well as dunking. "You guys don't see it, but I see a lot of the stuff that he does in practice when there aren't cameras and it's amazing that he's able to do that stuff at this point after what he went through," Pacers center Roy Hibbert toldThe Indianapolis Star.
Hibbert cautioned that just because he's doing impressive things in practice though, that doesn't mean he should be expected to re-join the team this year. The same can't be said for team president Larry Bird, who isn't ruling out a shocking return.
Bird, on if Paul George will return this season: "If he gets healthy and they say he can play and he wants to play, we'll let him play."
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) February 3, 2015
Last season George was a legitimate MVP candidate during the first half of the season, and finished his campaign with 21.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He also checked in at just under two steals a game, with a defensive rating of 97 while typically guarding the opponent's best perimeter offensive player.
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