Paul George Reveals He Initially Considered Surgery on Elbow

Paul George had a big choice to make on his elbow.

When Paul George first became sidelined with his UCL elbow tear, he had a very big choice to make.

One option was to get surgery, and the other was to wait it out with the potential of the elbow healing without surgery. When George first learned about his elbow injury, he revealed that he actually initially considered getting surgery.

"Yeah, it was," George said. "It was. Honestly, right after it happened, I was on the side of just getting surgery and getting over it and getting it done now so I don’t have to go into a summer rehabbing and healing and nursing an injury. I wanted to hit the ground running in the summer time so immediately I wanted to get surgery, but the doctor that dealt with this and saw this a lot in athletes said that this injury heals, that the ligament will attach itself back to the bone and I should be fine, just give it some time so… Thankfully we went that direction. I feel good and he was right."

"Yeah, [surgery] was [a possibility]. Honestly, right after it happened, I was on the side of just getting surgery... The doctor that dealt with this a lot in athletes said that this injury heals, that the ligament will attach itself back to the bone."

- Paul George pic.twitter.com/kHju0CuPz2

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When the injury first occurred, George couldn't dribble the ball at all, and could only really shoot the ball.

"When I was feeling it in December, it was just painful," George said. "I couldn't do the stuff I needed to. Shooting was never the issue, I could have been a catch & shoot player."

However, when doctors presented the option of not getting surgery at all, George went with that option. Fortunately for him and the Clippers, it all panned out for now.

"Time was on our side, and there was a chance of it healing with no surgery," George said.

Once there was the option of recovering without surgery, Paul George felt very optimistic about a return.

"I was always optimistic that I could comeback and play," George said.

One of the biggest reasons Paul George wanted to return was because he didn't want to leave his teammates behind. The Clippers had so many gutsy comebacks this season, George wanted to reward their hard work.

For Paul George though, his elbow isn't quite 100% yet. He revealed that the elbow is currently in the "90th percentile", but it's a part of the recovery process. Hopefully, he can give the Clippers the boost they need to make noise in the playoffs.