BY DAVID THORPE

Paul George is an exceptional player, sometimes in the MVP conversation. But he opened this year’s playoffs stinking up the court. After several sub-par games, he courageously told the media last week that he has been struggling with the mental health challenges of being confined to a Disney campus, far from the healthy normalcy of home routines, relationships, and freedom. 

It is absolutely believable that mental health challenges of isolation could impair a basketball player. The brain is the sport’s most essential instrument. 

What has been on my mind since George’s public statements, however, is what he said next: “We're all dealing with it. I've had conversations with guys here, and there's been a couple guys that is like, man, I'm happy I'm not the only one. I've been dealing with this, too.”

One rotation player playing on the Disney campus called me after a playoff game saying something had happened in his brain, on the court, that had never happened before in his l…