Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George played through a shoulder injury for almost the entire second half of the season. Now that the Thunder have been knocked out, George has undergone rotator cuff surgery.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, George will also soon have surgery on his other shoulder to correct a small tear in the labrum. He is expected to miss at least the beginning of training camp.
Unfortunately for George and the Thunder, the injury robbed the talented forward of what could have been his best season. Before sustaining the injury, many considered George to be on the short list of MVP candidates. Besides being one of the best defenders in the league, George was shooting the lights out from beyond the arc.
However, the injury destroyed George's shooting percentages, just 23 games before the playoffs began. After hurting his shoulder, his 3-point percentage dropped from 40 percent to 33 percent. His overall shooting percentage from the field dropped six percent, from 45 percent to 39 percent.
George acknowledged the poor timing of the injury, saying ‘it came at a terrible time.'
“We were playing good. I was holding up pretty, pretty, pretty good. I just thought it came at the wrong time, honestly,” George said. “But again, I've never made no excuses on it. I was dealing with it for a long time throughout the season. It just got worse and worse as it went on.”
There is no way of knowing how the Thunder would have fared with a fully healthy Paul George. Everyone in the NBA hopes he has a full recovery and can go back to his elite form by the start of next season.
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