Paul George is the most important player for the Los Angeles Clippers and, sadly, he won’t be playing with his team for some time.
George has suffered a UCL tear and will be out for at least three to four weeks when he will be re-evaluated.
But just because he will be seen by doctors again in a few weeks doesn’t mean he will suit up shortly after that.
George sprained elbow on Dec. 6, rested and rehabbed for 2 weeks and returned to play vs. Spurs and Kings this week. After he felt pain, testing revealed tear in ulnar collateral ligament. They'll see how elbow responds to rest in next 3-to-4 weeks before determining next steps. https://t.co/7JezhozHnx
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 25, 2021
Experts predict that it will be some time before George plays for the Clippers again and that there is a chance that he might be out for an extended time period.
In fact, there is a chance he won’t play another game this season.
Hopefully, that’s not the case and George can be back on the court within the next month.
But this is a major issue and area of concern for the Clippers, even if it ends up not being a devastating injury.
No Kawhi, No George
The Clippers already had it bad enough this season.
As everyone knows, they are missing the best player on their team: Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard is recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery and hasn’t played a single game this season – nor is he expected to.
So the Clippers were tasked with getting through this entire season without their star and now they are losing another All-Star.
Losing Leonard has hurt the team, which is currently sitting at number five in the West with a record of 17-16.
Just a few weeks without George could greatly impact their record and have them plummet down in the standings.
The LA Clippers are missing: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris, Luke Kennard, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jason Preston.
They're about to play 5 games in 7 nights against: DEN, BKN, BOS, TOR, BKN. Stupidly brutal.
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) December 25, 2021
There are other great players on the team, even if they aren’t as good as George.
Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris Sr, Luke Kennard, and Eric Bledsoe are just a few of the other impressive Clippers doing solid work.
However, a few of them are injured and, as always, COVID is complicating the roster night after night.
A Banner Season
Before being sidelined by his injury, George was creating 24.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game.
Before this season, his career average was 20.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists a game, which shows just how great he has improved.
Indeed, George was playing some of the best basketball of his life before he got hurt.
In fact, some people felt that George was in the conversation for MVP.
Many people had written off the Clippers before the season started because of the loss of Leonard.
Yet, George has kept them in contention and prevented them from falling to the bottom of the Western Conference.
There is a chance that George returns in a few weeks and continues to put up the same incredible numbers he was but there is also a chance that he comes back and is a bit rusty.
In other words, the marvelous season we have seen from George may have just come to an end.
Should the Clippers hold out hope for George’s return and success in the playoffs or should they just assume the season is all but finished now that they have lost their two best players?
We will soon see how they push ahead after this devastating loss.
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