Paul George puts gruesome injury behind him in Team USA quest for gold

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LAS VEGAS — It has been two years since Paul George’s life was inextricably altered during a USA Basketball exhibition game in which he snapped his left leg in gruesome fashion under the basket at the Thomas & Mack Center, an incident he now refers to simply as “the injury.”

He’s back in Las Vegas this week. Back donning a USA jersey across his chest. Back among the game’s elite. Back fulfilling his reputation as a dominant talent on the court.

George already restored his place in the basketball pecking order before this week, making third-team All-NBA and second-team All-Defensive in 2015-16 while putting up better overall numbers than he did for the Indiana Pacers in the season before “the injury.” Resuming his spot within Team USA just brings things full circle.

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“It means a lot,” George said after Team USA’s opening practice of training camp in preparation for the Rio Olympics next month. “This is like really a redemption to myself. All the bad that happened on that night, I owed myself this opportunity to come back out here and compete for my country.”

For all that’s been made about stars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard bowing out of international competition this summer, George’s inclusion can’t be emphasized enough.

“It’s one of the great stories of this group,” said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball’s …

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