It was ten years and one month ago. After holding his own against the Heat's “Three Amigos” as the Pacers, Paul George had been invited by Team USA to prepare for the 2014 World Cup. An event in which the All-Star winger did not participate, having been knocked down in mid-air during the preparation, during this friendly match in Las Vegas between two teams of “Team USA”. After contesting a lay-up by James Harden, “PG13” broke his leg on the frame of the basket.
What's next? It's his father, a guest on his son's podcast ” Podcast P with Paul George“, who tells it, searching through his memory for memories that remained intact because the moment had been so significant. A real “nightmare”, as Paul George Sr. confided.
“It was a difficult time,” he began, his voice trembling, his eyes closed. “When I got there, I could see the whole wound, because they hadn’t covered it yet. Then someone put a towel over his leg. But when I got to him, he grabbed me. He’d never squeezed my hand that hard. I looked at him, and I said, ‘Hey, if you want to shed a tear or anything, it’s OK, go ahead.’ He was just like, ‘Dad, it hurts, I need something.’”
It's not just Paul George who is panicking. This serious injury, and this vision of the leg at right angles, paralyzes everyone, and they have to organize themselves to get him off the field, but also to take him to the hospital.
“It was like thirty minutes before they could get him off the floor. We were all running around trying to figure out which hospital we were going to take him to. (…) Once we got there, of course, we gave him something for the pain and started getting him ready to get him into surgery. The medicine was starting to kick in. And then his agent, Aaron (Mintz), got Mr. Bryant on the phone, Kobe. So he gave the phone to Paul, and when he ended the call, he said to me, lying down with a big smile on his face, 'Guess who I was talking to? I just talked to Kobe Bryant!'”
Paul George takes the ball back home
In this difficult moment, Paul George Sr. was thus marked by the support provided by the entire NBA player community, from Kobe Bryant to the rest of the players present that evening. “All the NBA players were in the hospital that night. They were all there in the lobby. When you talk about the affection that NBA players have for each other, I was able to witness it. When one of them gets hurt, they all come together,” he added.
Unfortunately for him, that evening of August 2, 2014 was just the beginning of a long convalescence of about eight months, through which Paul George had to go through, always keeping in mind Kobe Bryant's advice. The return home was also a significant moment, but for a very particular reason.
“When we got home, after a few days, I’ll never forget it. There were a lot of stairs to get to his room, but we finally got there. I set him down, and a few moments later, he’s like, ‘Daddy, help me down.’ I’m like, ‘What do you need? I’ll get it for you, don’t move.’ He’s like, ‘No, I want you to help me down.’ He had his own basketball court downstairs. He had just come home from surgery, with staples everywhere… So I help him down, we get to the court. And then he’s like, ‘Okay, I want to shoot, and you just throw it back to me.’ I’m standing there trying not to cry, thinking he shouldn’t be here, thinking about basketball, just healing himself. And we stayed there for maybe an hour. He was sitting down shooting, and I was bringing the ball back to him. It was a tough moment, because I didn't know how it was going to end. It was a nightmare. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.”
Kobe Bryant's advice
So what was the advice that Kobe Bryant gave him that galvanized him to such an extent and got him through this difficult time, namely the first surgery of his playing career?
“Of course, he just showed me his support, telling me he was there if I needed anything, that he was there with me,” said Paul George. “He told me, ‘Rehab is going to be tough. It’s going to be hard work. Nobody wants to do rehab, it’s going to be tiring, you won’t want to do it. My advice is to approach rehab the same way you approach training on the court. You enjoy training on the basketball court. You need to bring that same enjoyment to rehab.”
PG therefore took his time, working hard to come back before the end of the 2014/15 season to make this sad episode a bad memory.
