You guys have got to get rid of him, he's going to be public enemy number one every time he steps on the floor at home.
Conversely, he's going to get a hero's welcome when the Pacers play @ Lakers.
I'll go more into detail about it when I have more time, but PG did play a HUGE role in getting us to those ECFs. He is also a HUGE reason the team imploded.
So I finally decided to sit down and talk about this.
There is no denying that PG played a giant role in getting us to back to back ECFs. The main reasons we got there was because at the time, PG was the second best two way player in the game behind LBJ, and Frank Vogel instilled a lockdown mentally and a brilliant defensive game plan, but without PG constantly on LBJ, there is little chance we take the Heatles to seven in back to back years.
Now George was the star, no two ways about it, but that team had key players. Lance Stephenson was actually a borderline All-Star during that run, George Hill was a solid if unsung two way point man, and most of all, Roy Hibbert had morphed into a dominant All-Star center.
Now, it's easy to say that PG breaking his leg was what caused the downfall. The fact is, when he came back he wasn't the same player for a while. He did regain that form, but by the time he did, he had already fucked over Indy royally.
First of all, Hibbert. Yeah he was exposed at one point as just being a paint roaming center, but how does a 2x All-Star who was once regarded as a Lebron stopper go from those heights to an absolute bum? Well Paul George happened. See Hibbert was doing some charity work in his native Jamaica. While he was gone, PG decided to post up on Hibbert's wife. Hibbert actually caught George in the act. This lead to massive fights between the two. It got so bad that management had no choice but to step in. Now I'm not saying I don't see their logic, but they sided with PG. Like I said, a top two way forward like George is going to have more value than a slow footed rim protecting center whose offensive game was limited to under the basket stuff and an underrated hook shot, but that absolutely killed Hibbert's confidence. He actually started to see a sports psychologist over the ordeal.
Then we have his instance of being unable to keep his dick in his pants. There was a stripper who claims that PG came into club one night and paid her for sex, which resulted in pregnancy. When she told PG, he offered her a million for her to get an abortion and to keep quiet. When questioned, his response was basically "I'm Paul George, why would I need to pay for sex?" He then laughed it off. Then she filed a paternity suit, and he admitted to the sex and they settled out of court. Pretty trash human being in my eyes for that.
Then came last season. Now we all knew that the season he was out due to the broken leg, we were trying to keep our head above water until he got 100%. There were no grumbling about the team around him, no complaining to management about a lack of names around him. He knew that was going to be a lost season. Last offseason, we made more moves than usual. First of all, we made the awful decision to let Frank Vogel go and bring in Mate McMillan. McMillan was supposed to bring a faster offense to the team, something George was in favor of. We signed Al Jefferson to a bit of an ugly contract, but he was an offensive minded big man who could mentor Myles Turner. We traded for Thad Young, who was better than expected until he struggled with nagging injuries late in the season. We traded for Jeff Teague, who was more of a traditional point guard than George Hill (who was also rumored to be doubling up on Hibbert's wife with PG) so he could get George more touches. We gave the role of team leader over to PG. He couldn't handle it. We made improvements to the team, and all he could do was bitch about how he needed more. All this was happening while he was inconsistent on the court. He would have a 40 point game, then go on a two or three game stretch where he barely got 10. He constantly looked fatigued as well.
George is good, but he is no superstar.
He constantly flip flopped on saying he wanted to play on a winner, then reversing and saying he wanted to bring glory to Indy. He denied wanting out, only to say he wanted to head to LA in private.
If he wanted to play for a winner, fair enough, but the Lakers as is, are a fringe playoff team. With George they are going to be fighting for a low seed in a stacked West. Lakers with PG are no better than Pacers with PG. I understand he is from LA, and LA is a much bigger market than Indianapolis, but if he goes to LA, he is going to be playing with an inexperienced GM whose solution to make the Lakers better for years was to "get better players." Larry Bird wasn't the best, far from it, but Magic had zero experience building a team before he was hired.
I'm upset, I'm salty, I'm whatever term you want to use, because he jerked us around saying he wanted to stay and build a winner when we could have moved him. Then, when his value was already pretty low, he fucks us even harder.
So yeah, fuck Paul George.