Since suffering a compound fracture to his leg with the world watching, Pacers guard Paul George has been an inspiration in how he handled the injury in stride and continued on without much of a hitch.
Well, he made a huge misstep on Thursday when he sent out a tweet in support of Ray Rice, an NFL player who punched his wife in the face in a hotel elevator. Rice, who was released from the Ravens and suspended indefinitely, somehow elicited the sympathy of George.
George sent out a tweet stating that, based on the video evidence, Rice made a mistake but didn't look like a repeat domestic abuser. George's assumption has no basis, of course. Only Rice and his wife, Janay, can really state whether this was an isolated incident.
It makes no sense for George, a player who has built up so much good will as a young star in the NBA, to make comments in support of a man who would brutally attack his wife. Maybe someone needs to get that across to George.
In the tweet, which was later deleted, George said, "If you in a relation and a women hit you first and attacking YOU.. Then you obviously ain't beating HER. Homie made a bad choice! #Stayup"
George followed his initial tweet with a second tweet that slanted toward Rice, but finally got toward an apology. Regardless of his intent, the damage is done and George put a statement out into the world that he cannot take back.
In a second tweet, George said, "Let me apologize to the women and to the VICTIMS of domestic violence people my intent was not to downplay the situation.."
Count Pacers president Larry Bird among those who were not pleased with George's comments. Bird released a statement in which he called George's comments "thoughtless" and said the team has spoken with him about the incident.
"Paul George's tweets from earlier were thoughtless and without regard to the subject of domestic violence and its seriousness in society," Bird said in a statement. "We have talked to Paul to strongly express our displeasure and made it clear that the NBA and the Pacers' organization will not condone or tolerate remarks of this nature. Paul understands that he was wrong and why his tweets were so inappropriate and is very apologetic."
George, after his first apology on Twitter, offered a second, more full apology through the Pacers organization.
"I want to apologize to all victims of domestic abuse for my insensitive tweets," George said in a statement. "They were obviously without proper understanding of the seriousness of the situation and I sincerely regret my poor choice of words."