Kevin Durant Left Team USA Because of Paul George’s Injury

Seeing Paul George shatter his leg is the reason Kevin Durant backed out of his commitment to Team USA this summer, according to … Kevin Durant. The reigning league MVP reveals his decision in a Kevin Durant-produced documentary that will air on HBO tonight.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post has the inside scoop and wrote the following about what happened after Paul George collided with the basket support and broke two bones in his leg during a televised USA Basketball scrimmage in Las Vegas.

"[Kevin Durant’s] family, friends and representatives all understood and supported Durant but the hard part was going to be backing out and disappointing the people – like Krzyzewski – who expected him to play a leadership role in the pursuit of another international gold medal. A few days before he reached out to Krzyzewski, Durant watched Indiana Pacers forward Paul George break his right leg in a horrific collision with a basket stanchion during a Team USA basketball scrimmage in Las Vegas that convinced the reigning NBA MVP to withdraw from the FIBA World Cup.“It took everything out of me seeing that,” Durant later told friend Randy Williams and a Nike executive at his camp of George. “Everything I had to play for Team USA, that injury stripped it away from me.”"

Paul George’s injury is brutal to watch no matter who you are. If you’re a basketball player around the same age, it must have been even harder. And if you’re Kevin Durant — who had been playing 1-on-1 after practices with George in the days leading up to the broken leg — it made you re-evaluate everything.

Still, for Durant, who coincidentally broke his foot two months later and is expected to be sidelined until December, it was still difficult to back out of the team before the FIBA World Cup competition in Spain (which Team USA won anyway). I mean, it couldn’t have been that difficult. He did quit.

But mostly, Durant said that prioritizing his own safety and mental well being over the team felt bad because he was letting down Mike Krzyzewski.

"“It felt awkward,” Durant said of the scrimmage that possibly ended George’s season. “Once we were playing, it just didn’t feel right for some reason.”After Durant is shown reacting on court to what he called a “freak accident,” the scene shifts to conversation with Durant in which he says, “When you see something like that, so gruesome, in front of you, of course you’re going to think, ‘This could happen to me.’ ”Durant was noticeably unsettled as he stood on a wall and spoke to Krzyzewski. He later explained, “I feel like I’m letting somebody down and I hate that feeling.”"

As noted, Team USA still took home the trophy. But it is interesting that we now know that Paul George’s injury cost the squad two of its starters — not just one.

Yeah, maybe all leagues should keep making rules that move the baskets back as far as possible. Get well soon, both of you guys.