Paul George is an essential part of the Los Angeles Clippers’ championship aspirations.
While the team will obviously go only as far as Kawhi Leonard will take them, he can’t do it alone. And not even the addition of Rajon Rondo can change the fact that George playing at a high level is necessary if the Clippers want to compete for a title.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether George playing at a high level is actually a viable option.
This week, the 30-year-old acknowledged that his health wasn’t where it needed to be.
George admitted that the foot soreness he had been trying to work through over the last several days was related to the lingering bone edema injury in his right toe from last month.
“It’s better,” he said. “It’s a day to day process, but I’m doing better. You just play through what you can, and what you can’t, you gotta be smart about. If it was my way, I wish I could be out on the court, play all the games. Some days, it’s more sore than others.”
Back in mid-February, George sat out seven games due to his right toe.
“We’re trying to figure it out now,” George continued. “Honestly, we’re trying to get on top of it now. Hasn’t seemed to go away yet. But at this point it is just managing the soreness and swelling.
“You play through what you can and what you can’t, you got to be smart about. If it was my way I wish I could be on the court and play all the games. But some days it is more sore than others and so you look ahead and plan ahead.”
Obviously George’s time with the Clippers hasn’t been ideal. He has clashed with teammates. He has rubbed coaches the wrong way. It’s been rough.
But LA still needs him for a potential title run. And if he truly isn’t healthy, that could spell disaster for whatever hope the Clippers had of redeeming themselves after last year’s embarrassing playoff run.
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