Paul George suffers serious leg injury in U.S. exhibition

LAS VEGAS – Indiana Pacers All-Star Paul George suffered a gruesome right leg injury late in the U.S. national team’s intrasquad scrimmage Friday night.

George leaped to contest a fast-break layup by James Harden with 9:33 left in the fourth quarter and his leg smashed against the bottom of the backboard stanchion and crumpled.

After roughly 10 minutes of stoppage, George was taken out of the arena on a stretcher. With players looking visibly upset, coach Mike Krzyzewski then announced to the crowd that the scrimmage would not be finished out of respect to George and his family.

“This is a first for us in USA Basketball, to have something like this take place,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said. “It’s a tough situation for our entire organization. Very, very emotional. There’s no way the game could have gone on.”

The White team led George’s Blue team 81-71.