#3 Paul George broken leg during USA Men's Basketball showcase - 1 August 2014
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While things look bright for the immediate future of the LA Clippers and Paul George, this was not the case in the summer of 2014. On August 1st, 2014, as a member of the USA Men's Basketball team he suffered a gruesome injury. The team was training in Las Vegas getting ready for the FIBA World Cup in Spain. The injury occurred during a Team USA intrasquad showcase game. The squad was divided into two, blue and white jerseys.
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George, playing for team USA Blue attempted to prevent James Harden (playing for team USA White) from scoring an easy layup late in the game. He fouled Harden but as he landed under the base of the basketball hoop stanchion, he misstepped suffering a compound fracture of both bones in his lower right leg.
The game was immediately stopped by head coach Mike Krzyzewski and the team held a prayer on the court for their injured teammate. After such an ugly injury, George was able to return to the line up of the Indiana Pacers by 5 April 2015, 8 months after the incident which is a testament to his youth, training, and dedication to his craft. George is certainly lucky the injury only cost him 76 games in the 2014/15 NBA season.
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