Paul George: ‘I wanted to return as one of the best players in the world’

Paul George would love to leave behind the worst day of his basketball life with the swiftness of a windmill dunk, to make the image of his right leg snapping disappear in the time it takes to snap a finger. But he knows that can't happen, that fully moving on from that gruesome injury nearly 17 months ago will always be difficult because the bulging mound of flesh that remains from where his leg was surgically fused back together greets George every time he gets dressed.

"Putting on socks. Just putting on socks is a reminder of what happened," George told Yahoo Sports, "because it's there. I've got to put the sock over the bump where the bone breakage happened. It's a reminder every day."

The thick scar no longer taunts George as it did when he began taking those first grueling steps toward reclaiming the promising career some thought was over when he crashed into that basket stanchion during a Team USA scrimmage in August 2014. And since he pulls his socks up just above that deformed knot, the daily reminder isn't visible to anyone who has watched George dazzle the NBA with easily the best feel-good comeback story of the early season.

"I want people to use that as something inspirational. Because here I was, playing at the highest level, and a big accident happened. And it took me back," George told Yahoo. "I had to work to get back to it."

George hasn't returned seeking to be graded on a curve or to merely receive applause for wearing a Pacers uniform again. He is authoring one of the best seasons of anyone not named Stephen Curry, having already claimed Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors for November, posting nearly career-best numbers across the board in scoring, rebounds and assists, and racking up votes as one of the early leaders in All-Star balloting.

"I really came into this season wanting to be here, wanting to be on top of the league now," George told Yahoo. "I didn’t see it no other way."

Though he has been encouraged by the flashes of that familiar explosiveness, George is quick to remind people that he experiences soreness in his repaired limb and continues to adjust to some limitations to his athleticism and quickness. That fight wasn't unexpected, because doctors told George that it would likely take about two years before he was fully recovered.

Emerging from a lengthy, half-hour dip in the ice tub after a recent game, covered in several thick brown towels, George took some time to reheat in front of his locker room stall before explaining how doubt, from outside and within, helped fuel his drive to get back to the court.

"That was definitely bulletin board material, people saying I wouldn’t be back. Or I’m going to be limited – which I am to an extent. I’m still not fully there," George told Yahoo. "I knew at the end of the road, where I wanted to be. I knew I wanted to be at the highest level. I wanted to return as one of the best players in the world again. That's how I wanted my story to end."

 

Refusing to surrender
Of all the indelible images of that fateful August night in Las Vegas – Kyrie Irving crying in his father's arms, players gathered around George in stunned silence, George offering a thumbs up before heading out on a stretcher – the one that often gets overlooked also provided a good indication that George wasn't going to easily surrender to the intimidating odds of a healthy return. James Harden was at least two steps out front with a seemingly easy path for a layup in an otherwise meaningless, defense-optional exhibition, and George was still charging, unwilling to give up on the play.

Pacers president Larry Bird still shakes his head in appreciation of that relentless spirit, knowing that same drive carried George from an unheralded high school prospect to an unexpected lottery pick to an unlikely seat at the table of the game's elite. "He’s determined," Bird told Yahoo. "He always said he was going to be an All-Star, but I think after the injury, he put more in it after that."

But when he watched George go down, hustling as always, Bird told Yahoo: "I felt sorry for him. I know how hard he works. I know what he wants to become. And that was a big blow, just for the kid – not the franchise, you worry about that later."

Uncertainty engulfed George after he went down, forcing him to build up his character in addition to his body. George wanted to avoid becoming the latest addition to the list of could’ve-been-greats whose ascension was clipped prematurely.

"The immediate concern was, 'Will I be back? Will I heal fine? Will I be losing anything physically? Will my athleticism, quickness come back? Will my whole game come back?' Those were the biggest questions," the 25-year-old George told Yahoo. "But it was just a broken bone. I knew from talking to the doctors and doing research on the history of that injury, I was going to be fine. I just had to really attack the rehab as hard as possible. I was going to gain everything back."

 

The road back
George surprised many late last season when he joined the Pacers in the midst of what turned out to be a lottery campaign for a team that lost to LeBron James and Miami in consecutive Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and 2014. Bird was always adamant that George would play whenever he received clearance from the team's medical staff, so he was never worried about his franchise cornerstone playing only eight months after injury.

Appearing in six forgettable, work-out-the-rust games, George sustained a calf strain, mostly due to his lack of conditioning, in the season finale. But those games were all part of George's plan to avoid turning the first few months of this season into a trial run to regain confidence.

"I think it was huge, from getting over the mental hurdle," Pacers coach Frank Vogel told Yahoo. "Feeling the bright lights, getting hit a couple times, diving on the floor a couple of times, feeling the trust in the leg as opposed to waiting the entire summer to feel that, I think it just sped up the entire process."

The Pacers' struggles in George's absence last season convinced Bird that it was time to rebuild the team around his best player and swap the club’s boring, plodding attack for the small-ball revolution. Bird wanted to open up the floor so that George would have more space to score and create for others. That plan initially involved the 6-foot-9 George shifting to power forward – a position Bird enjoyed playing during his Hall of Fame career because it allowed him to abuse bigger defenders. But George was publicly resistant to the move, fearful of the damage guarding larger players would have on his body over the course of a season. C.J. Miles assumed the role instead, allowing George to remain at his preferred small forward spot.

While utilizing a new, pace-and-space offensive scheme, Vogel said he expected to have George at 75 to 80 percent, with the hope that he'd regain full strength. "There was a reasonable expectation that he would return to form," Vogel told Yahoo. “You don’t really know until you see it.”

George didn't take long to let Vogel know that he was much further along, with some early MVP buzz, four double-doubles in his first six games and nine games with at least 30 points in his first 17 contests, including a career-high 48 in a Dec. 5 win over Utah.

"If I didn’t know him, I would be surprised," said former Pacer and current NBATV analyst Danny Granger. "From the outside looking in, you'd say, 'No way he could get back to that level that fast, coming back from an injury like that.' But from having a personal relationship with him, that’s who he is. He was gung ho about it the whole time. He constantly works on his game. There was never a time that basketball wasn’t on his mind."

 

'I didn’t quit on believing'
George credited "that underdog fight in me" for pushing himself back to an All-Star level. But he gained an appreciation for the measured, deliberate approach to his rehabilitation and has no desire to make up for lost time.

"I felt if I would’ve approached it that way, that’s when the injuries occur, when I’m trying to do too much and overwork myself," George told Yahoo. "I’m just smarter. [A year] away from the game, you get much more experienced. Being off and watching, observing the game, you see the game in a different light, and when I came back I was much more patient."

Granger, a former All-Star, worked out with George prior to Bird taking him 10th overall in the 2010 NBA draft and has remained a mentor and admirer. Having observed George improve each offseason to garner consideration as one of the 10 best players in the game, Granger believes George is progressing toward eventually becoming “a top one or two player in the league” and has already made most people forget about the catastrophic injury. "That thing is an afterthought," Granger said. "The only reason people will know it happened is because of the scar from the surgery. But other than that, he’ll be fine."

George is far from content with the start to his season, understanding that this is only part of his process, not the completion. The 82-game grind has already begun to affect him, with George sliding into a miserable shooting slump the past three weeks. Opposing defenses have been loading up to slow him down, and the shots he hit to start the season are coming up short. He still wants to finish the campaign healthy and lead the Pacers to a top-four finish in the East. But when he looks down at his leg and recognizes the strength that it took just to play, let alone thrive, George is appreciative of what he’s already overcome.

“It’s always an inspiration to sit back, see where I came from and see where I’m at now, but it’s always a reminder as well that when I’m on the court, anything can happen," George said. "One thing, I didn’t quit on believing. As much as I wanted to, and as rough as it was, I didn’t quit on the process and I hope people can use that as motivation."