Sunday was Easter, but it felt more like Christmas to Paul George Sr.
He was excited but nervous that his 24-year-old son was playing in a game again, just over eight months since two-time NBA All-Star had surgery to repair a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg at a Las Vegas hospital.
“I’m at a loss for words, to tell you the truth,” Paul Sr. told VigilantSports.com after No. 13 scored 13 points in almost 15 minutes of game time, his first of the season. “Overall, we’re just so happy for him. This is his style. He wanted to be out on the floor. He hated the idea of sitting behind the scorer’s table.”
George spent the first half of the season behind the scorer’s table and out of harms way. A few months ago, before he started practicing, he joined his teammates on the bench.
Enough of that, though. He was recently cleared by team doctors and then at the end of the week, given the OK to suit up.
Paul Sr. said he doesn’t believe his son ever had much doubt that he would return, despite such a gruesome looking injury. He was treated by two excellent doctors — Dr. Riley Williams first on site, and then Dr. David Silverberg performed the surgery at Sunrise Hospital — and had all the right people being honest with him.
“Both of the doctors when it happened, they told him if he had to break a leg, he broke it the right way,” Paul Sr. said. “That right there took off a lot of pressure off of Paul and the family — especially him. With an injury like that, I know it had to go through his mind. It went through our heads, too.
“He knew he would be back out there, it was just a matter of time.”
Paul George took the floor Sunday after missing the season’s first 76 games.
Saturday afternoon, George called his mother, who was home in Palmdale, after practice.
“Hey mom,” George said to Paulette, “I think I’m going to go ahead and play (Sunday) night.”
She was so excited that she had to text him after they got off the phone to clarify whether he meant this Sunday or next (when the Pacers host Oklahoma City in their third-to-last game of the regular-season).
It was this one, April 5th, when the family was already scheduled to spend Easter in Indianapolis. Mom, dad, sisters Portala (who lives in Indy with her husband) and Teiosha, and even his 10-month-old daughter, Olivia.
Paul Sr. wasn’t just surprised how well his son played in his first outing, but also that he played at all.
They all thought he was originally going to return in mid-March, as PG had mentioned a few times as his goal. More and more games had passed and the team’s season was sliding. If they did make the playoffs, Paul Sr. didn’t like the idea of his son be thrusted out there.
“I thought he was going to shut it down for the whole season,” he shared. “And then last night, as we were flying in, my wife said, ‘Oh, by the way, Paul is going to be playing tomorrow.”
Paul just wanted to surprise his pops.
Paulette, meanwhile was tense as her only boy stepped on the floor, as any mother would be.
“I was nervous and hopeful that he would play to his potential because I know Paul,” she explained. “He wants to get out there and do more when he knows that he can’t at the moment.”
Her message to him was to not overdo it, but just do enough.
“And he wanted to come back,” she said, “and show the fans that, ‘I know you guys were waiting on me and I just came to do a little bit and let you guys know I’ll be back soon.’”
During the game, it took Paul Jr. a minute to find his parents, who were sitting in the first row opposite the Miami Heat bench. They were the ones with the big smiles on their faces all night, and were throwing a few high-fives throughout the game.
“I don’t have the greatest eye sight but I was squinting and was like, ‘Who is this guy in this green color far on the other side,'” George recalled, one of many lighthearted moments at his postgame presser. “They’re like, ‘Man, that’s your dad.’
“I gave him a little wink because that was gutsy, a gutsy outfit.”
[Perfect sermon put Paul George at ease before he impressed in return]
The family enjoyed brunch and then church together Easter Sunday before the youngest drove downtown to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“Hey, it’s Paul’s Resurrection Day, too,” Paulette proclaimed.