AP Photo/John LocherThose that were watching last night's Team USA scrimmage may not be able to get the image of Paul George's gruesome leg injury out of their minds for quite some time.
As the Indiana Pacers' baller was racing down the court during the U.S. National team's intrasquad scrimmage at UNLV Friday, he suffered an open tibia-fibula fracture. Essentially, it looked like his lower leg snapped in half – an injury that reminded us of former Louisville guard Kevin Ware's jaw-dropping leg break from a year ago (Warning: the video of the George's injury can be viewed here, but it is very graphic).
Following the incident, George underwent successful surgery and is expected to remain hospitalized for about three days, according to ESPN. Sources told the network the guard will likely miss all of next season.
Nevertheless, the basketball star is keeping his head up, tweeting his gratitude to fans Friday night. "Thanks everybody for the love and support..I'll be ok and be back better than ever!!! Love y'all!! #YoungTrece," he wrote.
Ware also hit the social networking site to show his support for George, tweeting, "Man..Minor setback for a major comeback PG."
The Pacers later issued a statement, with president of basketball operations Larry Bird saying, "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."
"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…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."