Paul George once wanted to be a Pacers player for life
Paul George left a sour taste in the mouths of Indiana Pacers fans upon his departure by way of a trade request in 2017. Before that, though, George had a legitimate desire to stay with the Pacers for years to come and be the next strong face of the franchise, inspired by a Los Angeles Lakers legend — Kobe Bryant.
George spent the first seven years of his career in Indianapolis, including a season (2014-15) in which he sat out most of the year as the franchise patiently worked with him through the recovery of his gruesome leg injury.
He figured to be the next star to push the Pacers to an NBA Finals bid. He had already helped push LeBron James and the Miami Heat to their limits in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite never getting past those Heat teams the Pacers, led by George, showed those superteams had flaws and wore them down tremendously.
After being selected to four All-Star games while representing the Pacers, George requested out. The reasons why are long and complicated, but it comes down to George being unhappy with how management built the team around George and refused to take risks that would put a smaller market in proverbial handcuffs.
Paul George speaks about wanting to have finished his career in Indiana
Speaking to Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles of the Knuckleheads podcast, Paul George briefly mentioned his initial intentions with the Indiana Pacers.
"“When I was in Indy my goal was to win one there. And I never wanted to leave Indy, like, I grew up on Kobe, so, Kobe stayed in LA, that was where his home was, that’s how I felt guys should look at it.”"
Taking inspiration from Kobe Bryant, PG13 wanted to be a Pacer for life. We all know that didn’t end up happening, but George did have seven great years in Indianapolis. A drafted star, he was the best player since the Reggie Miller era ended to play in the blue and gold.
In his time with the Pacers, George averaged 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game.
While it stings that it ended so soon for Pacers fans, it’s good for them to know that the culture, at least at first, was one that George bought into. Ultimately, the PG trade would yield the team both Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, both of which are centerpieces to the franchise’s core aspirations today. They have both turned into All-Stars.
Today, George is a cross-arena rival to the Los Angeles Lakers, hoping to spoil the title run with Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers.