The NBA is a brotherhood. Players train all year long with the utmost goal of beating opponents when the games matter most, but respect, empathy, and friendship always transcend even the league’s harshest competition. The basketball world is exhibiting that ubiquitous kinship in reacting to the devastating injury suffered by Paul George last night at the USA Basketball Showcase.
Statement from Commissioner Adam Silver:
“It was difficult to watch the injury that Paul George sustained tonight while representing his country. The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the NBA are with Paul and his family.”
Updated statement from Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird, including a show of support to USA Basketball:
“Our first thoughts are with Paul and his family. It is way too early to speculate on his return as the No. 1 priority for everyone will be his recovery. Our initial discussions with our doctors and the doctors in Las Vegas have us very optimistic. We are hopeful at some point next week Paul will return to Indianapolis to continue his recovery.
“There is no question about the impact on our team but our goal is to be as strong-willed and determined as Paul will be in coming back. Our franchise has had setbacks in its history but has demonstrated the abilities to recover. Paul will provide the example of that off the court and it is up to the rest of us to provide that example on the court. Any discussion regarding the future of our team would be inappropriate at this time. Our focus is solely on Paul and doing whatever we can to help.
“We still support USA Basketball and believe in the NBA’s goals of exposing our game, our teams and players worldwide. This is an extremely unfortunate injury that occurred on a highly-visible stage, but could also have occurred anytime, anywhere.
“Finally, the Pacers would like to thank our fans and the NBA community for their outreach of support in the brief amount of time since the injury occurred. It has been overwhelming and it is what makes Indiana and the NBA special.”
USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski immediately after the injury on perspective and the process of selecting a roster for the FIBA World Cup:
“This is a tough blow, not only for USA basketball but for the Indiana Pacers,” Colangelo said. “And so as an organization we’re just going to let a little time go by here before we address rosters. … It seems so unimportant in the scheme of things. When you have something like this, it puts things in perspective.”
“Everything’s on hold, and it should be,” Krzyzewski said. “It would be so inappropriate for us to talk about anything else when there is an injury like this.”
George’s teammates on the Pacers, Team USA, and his fellow NBA stars expressed overwhelming support for him on social media:
Damn
— Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer) August 2, 2014
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Prayers up for the homie @Paul_George24 hope he's aight
— C.J. Watson (@Quietstorm_32) August 2, 2014
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Indiana’s Ian Mahinimi:
7am in France My heart is so heavy as I woke up to this sad news…but I also know what type of individual he is and trust me WORLD he will be back better stronger faster than ever! My prayers go out to my little brother PG and his family for the best recovery the world has ever seen!
@paul_george24 praying for you bro
— Lance Stephenson (@StephensonLance) August 2, 2014
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Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James:
Hurt my stomach the moment I heard the news! I didn’t want to believe it. Man I need u out there bro! Get well and have a speedy recovery PG24! #DamnIt #YoungKing #StriveForGreatness
God bless u my brother @Paul_George24. Im hurt, praying for you. Praying for peace. Praying that God heals you in a supernatural way.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 2, 2014
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Team USA and the Houston Rockets’ James Harden:
Speedy recover for my guy PG! Praying for you and the fam. The comeback is going to be crazy!
Everybody pray for my bro @Paul_George24 and wish him a speedy recovery…Luv ya bro !!
— John Wall (@John_Wall) August 2, 2014
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Pray for PG and his family! Pray for the Doctors overseeing his recovery and that he comes back stronger than before. #USA
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) August 2, 2014
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#PrayforPG pic.twitter.com/TRfWs8MZW3
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) August 2, 2014
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Prayers out to my brother @Paul_George24 and his family speedy recovery! #WeAreOne
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummondd) August 2, 2014
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Prayers up to @Paul_George24 hate to see that happen to anyone.
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) August 2, 2014
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Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul:
Prayers out to @paul_george24! Love ya fam and I know you’ll be back stronger than ever!!! #NBA #Family
Praying for @Paul_George24 for not only the player he is but the person he is. Injuries are thee toughest part of sports
— THREE (@DwyaneWade) August 2, 2014
My prayers goes out to @Paul_George24. I just woke up and heard the news. Stay strong Champ.
— Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) August 2, 2014
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Prayers out to @Paul_George24 and his family..
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) August 2, 2014
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My Prayers go out Paul George hurts me so bad seeing my Nba brothers go down on major injury pray for a speedy recovery
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) August 2, 2014
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Just saw the terrible news on Paul George. Such a great young player. Hope to see him back on the court soon….
— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) August 2, 2014
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Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston, who suffered a similarly gruesome injury in 2007, offered his perspective, too:
I know people are in shock from Paul George's injury. He will be able to bounce back bc he has a warrior mentality.
— Shaun Livingston (@ShaunLivingston) August 2, 2014
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I said the same about Derrick Rose. They both have youth on their side and sometimes these injuries can make you
— Shaun Livingston (@ShaunLivingston) August 2, 2014
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a stronger individual than before. It forces your mind to will the body to a place it hasn't experienced! I
— Shaun Livingston (@ShaunLivingston) August 2, 2014
believe in Paul George and his recovery back to the top! 100
— Shaun Livingston (@ShaunLivingston) August 2, 2014
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And finally, the tweet that matters most. Get well soon, PG!
Thanks everybody for the love and support.. I'll be ok and be back better than ever!!! Love y'all!! #YoungTrece
— Paul George (@Paul_George24) August 2, 2014
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