Getty Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after making a three-point basket against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on December 19, 2018 in Sacramento, California.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward, Paul George played through soreness in his shoulder toward the end of the NBA season and throughout the NBA Playoffs.
George initially injured his shoulder in March against the Denver Nuggets.
Details of that injury are not known. He sat out three games and returned against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
George scored 25 points and hauled in five rebounds in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 131-120 loss.
In March, I reported that George had a minor tear in his rotator cuff.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Paul George Tears Rotator Cuff Says Source – t.co/0qGH4jp7Mw
Rest, ice and physical therapy are usually the best tratments for rotator cuff injuries. If injury is severe & involves a complete tear of the muscle or tendon, you might need surgery.
George expressed that his shoulder felt okay after that game. “I was a little rusty, the rhythm was a little off,” he said.
Per USA Today’s Thunder Wire:
“Not just for myself, but with my guys out there. But I feel fine. As much as I was getting tugged and grabbed, the shoulder held up.”
So what exactly is a rotator cuff injury?
Per the Mayo Clinic: It’s an injury of the tendons under the deltoid muscle.
Pain usually arises from overhead work. For everyday people, putting things into high cupboards or serving at tennis could be the culprit.
In 56 games prior to the All-Star break, George averaged 28.7 points on 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent from three-point range. He averaged 26.4 points on 33.6 percent shooting from the field and 33.6 percent from beyond the arc in 21 games after the All-Star break.
“The fact of the matter is injuries are part of the game. It’s what goes on during the game,” said George.
“I don’t have any excuses for it. I was out there and I was able to compete. I was limited to a sense sometimes but it didn’t stop me from competing.
George missed four games due to the injury — three in March and the regular-season finale on April 10.
As he played through the injury, it was evident that he was less than 100 percent but he has proven that it will take a lot for him to be held out of a game.
After the regular season ended, George revealed to reporters that the injury was so severe that he couldn’t lift his arm after the game against the Houston Rockets on April 9. His status for Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers was in question but he managed to play in all five playoff games.
In his exit interview on April 25, George didn’t reveal how severe his injury was but only added that he’ll address it pretty soon and that he didn’t experience too much pain during the NBA Playoffs.
On Monday, Thunder general manager, Sam Presit offered some insight into what will happen next for George. As of Monday, George hadn’t yet had his shoulder fully evaluated yet, according to Presti.
“With P.G., everybody knows that he was battling a couple of different things during the year. Anytime we’re dealing with injuries, we work with the player, we work with the agent, we work with our physicians and we almost always have a specialist or outside doctor that we’re working with as well.”
“Everybody felt comfortable with him playing. He was at no risk of any type of future injury but we all knew when we get to the end of the season, he’d have to be looked at and evaluated and that hasn’t happened yet. He is going to meet with that physician in another city. We’ll be there for that consult and then we’ll see where that goes from there.”
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Paul George Injury: Thunder GM, Sam Presti’s Reaction on PG 13’s Shoulder