Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul will miss eight weeks after undergoing successful surgery on his right thumb, the team announced on Tuesday. After the break, the star point guard will be able to return to all basketball-related activities with full contact, the team said.
The surgery repaired a torn ligament in Paul's thumb, as the Los Angeles Times reports that he may have initially hurt the thumb during the playoffs.
Paul re-aggravated his thumb during Team USA's first day of training camp in Las Vegas last month and sat out a couple of practices leading into the Olympics. An X-ray then revealed a sprain, according to the newspaper.
That all means his performance at the 2012 London Olympics came despite the injury. Starting eight games en route to a gold medal, Paul averaged 8.3 points, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game for the Americans. Perhaps his biggest contribution came in the gold medal game against Spain, where a fired-up Paul scored 11 points and had three steals.
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