When Paul George went down with injury, you could see the hurt in his teammates’ eyes. They weren’t going through the same pain as PG, but an emotional wave came over them as they look at the small forward as a brother rather than a teammate.
Expected to miss the entire FIBA World Cup–as well as the entire 2014-15 NBA season–George delivered a stern message to his teammates: go get the gold.
Coach K said in the trauma room before surgery a stoic @Paul_George24 told him, "Coach, I’m going to be ok. Go get the gold.” (via @dpshow)
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) August 5, 2014
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Without George, Team USA’s road to emerge champions of the 2014 FIBA World Cup grows more difficult. Prior to George’s injury, Team USA shuffled their frontcourt depth due to withdrawals from Blake Griffin (back injury), LaMarcus Aldridge (unknown), and Kevin Love (trade protection). Without those three, the big man unit had gotten weaker and now, without Paul, the same has happened to the wings.
But due to this team’s bond, the absence of George could give this team an extra emotional boost. This group is extremely talented. Kevin Durant is the second best player in the world, Anthony Davis is looking to join the top-5 players list really soon, they’ve a platoon of point guards in Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, and Kyrie Irving, as well as players who could fill in nicely amongst the go-to guys: Chandler Parsons, Gordon Hayward, Mason Plumlee, etc.
Hopefully Team USA can win the gold for their fallen brother.