Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro confirmed Tuesday that guard Chris Paul won't miss any part of the regular season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. He should only be out eight weeks.
In a release on the team's website, Del Negro said that his All-Star point guard received the surgery to "get [it] done now so it doesn't bother him later."
Paul suffered the injury during last season's playoff run and again hurt his thumb during Team USA's preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The 6-foot guard missed a couple of practices with the national team, but played and started in all eight games of the Americans' gold-medal run in London.
Via the team's release:
"Chris brought home the gold and had a terrific Olympics," Del Negro said. "He re-aggravated an injury from last season early in the [Olympic] training process and played through it."
In the Olympics, Paul averaged 8.3 points, 5.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game while playing with the injury. The toughness he displayed in London, and the fact that the Clippers don't play their first regular season game until Oct. 31, 2012, means Los Angeles' floor general should be good to go.
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