Paul George Wins Players’ Union Comeback Player of the Year Award

In a no-brainer vote, Paul George was named by his peers as the NBPA’s Comeback Player of the Year.

Paul George broke two bones in his leg and returned better than ever. For the three-time All-Star, certainly nothing can beat that feeling of re-proving himself.

But now he also has some hardware to honor his struggle.

Today, the NBA’s players’ union announced that PG’s peers saw his resolve, dedication, and — most of all — talent throughout the season, and predictably voted him as their Comeback Player of the Year.

After missing essentially an entire season after suffering a brutal injury in a Team USA exhibition game in August 2014, Paul George returned to play 81 games and 2,819 minutes in the 2015-16 regular season. He was arguably the best player on the planet not named Steph Curry in November while winning Player of the Month in his first month back.

Throughout the season, he hit some rough patches. The whole stretch from a little before Christmas until the All-Star break featured some bad shooting and, quite clearly, tired legs. But this was to be expected to some degree.

He turned things back around in the All-Star Game itself, scoring a near-record 41 points, before bringing his high-level play back to Indiana. Then, he showed once and for all that the lull was just that.

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There was perhaps no player better in the first round of the playoffs.

Paul George averaged 27.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game — while shooting 45.5% overall and 41.9% from deep — while almost leading the Pacers to an upset victory over the Toronto Raptors. The series went seven games, and PG was far and away the star, showing the vast gap between Indiana’s franchise player at his best and other mere All-Stars like DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

After all this, it was obvious that Paul George was the only choice for Comeback Player of the Year.

This is the second year that the players’ union has handed out its own awards. Each of the categories — including the typical MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards to go with some quirkier trophies — are voted on by the players.