Long before the Indiana Pacers' Paul George crumpled to the court, his leg shattered and a career and franchise suddenly imperiled, USA Basketball had been the unintentional target of the NBA's push for control of its superstars' summers.

For all the global marketing the commissioner's office and shoe companies loved the stars bringing the business, NBA owners and executives had grown weary of the toll taken on bodies. George promises to be the center of the debate, but this fight to get players out of international basketball had never been about the catastrophic injury, nor USA Basketball.

Until now, anyway. Until Paul George had been lifted onto a stretcher Friday night in Las Vegas and carted out of the next year of his basketball career.

"This could be a game-changer for international basketball," one prominent general manager told Yahoo Sports.

Before leaving the commissioner's office, David Stern made a case for a 22-and-under tournament in future Olympics and World Cup of Basketball, but it fell flat – partly because of his own declining popularity. Rest assured, the NBA will want to hold those discussions with FIBA again and George's horrific injury promises to give the idea renewed momentum. This time, the players could be far less opposed. This time, they themselves could be considering the risk of international basketball.

View photos Cavs guard Kyrie Irving reacts after seeing Paul George break his leg. (AP) More

USA Basketball has never been the biggest concern for owners and GMs, because the American talent pool is so deep that no one is made to play with injuries. No one is over-taxed on minutes. No one is made to play far-flung tournaments in the corners of the world to qualify for the world championships and Olympics. Those are the burdens for players born outside the U.S., who play for more modestly talented national teams far less invested in protecting players' value for NBA teams.

Nevertheless, a maximum salary star breaking his leg – losing out on a full season for an Eastern Conference contender – promises to reignite a fight for control of FIBA's future that the NBA's determined to reshape to its own interests.

Most agree with Pacers president Larry Bird: The catastrophic injury can happen "anywhere, anytime," but it happened on national television, happened with the NBA's best young players watching mortified mere feet away. It happened in a useless scrimmage, where the basketball stanchion that George crashed his leg had been too close to the court.

"The Olympics every four years is one thing, but the rest of this inconsequential [expletive] is ridiculous," a GM with a player in Friday night's scrimmage told Yahoo Sports. "We're not paying our guys 50 percent of the BRI so our stars can be exposed to injuries just to let the league [convince itself] that they're going to expand into European markets."

USA Basketball had never been the center of the NBA's concern, but George transforms that dynamic now. Mostly, NBA owners and executives had been reluctant to turn stars over to European and South American, African and Asian national teams. Overseas stars are needed to play deep into their 30s for talent-thin national teams, but that's never necessary for Team USA. An influx of elite talent is always coming up behind them.

For Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, it was the wear-and-tear of Dirk Nowitzki playing for Germany. All those qualifying tournaments, all those practices and games, all those times where the biggest burden is thrust upon an NBA All-Star.

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