When the Clippers announced back on Christmas Day that Paul George had suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, it was unclear how to react to an injury that is more synonymous with baseball players — pitchers, to be exact. Even with the update that George will be requiring additional weeks of rest for his right elbow, the confusion hasn’t dissipated.
According to Dr. Luke Nicholson, MD, the reason that there is this level of uncertainty regarding George’s return is partly because torn UCLs simply don’t happen among basketball players. The type of mechanism that causes tension on that ligament is more common in overhead athletes, like javelin throwers and baseball pitchers.