Paul George recently returned to where to all began for him in Indiana with the Pacers, but yet again there was no acknowledgement of it by the organization.
George was selected as the No.10 pick in the 2010 NBA draft by the Pacers out of Fresno State.
He played his first seven years in the NBA there and picked up four All-Star selections and three third-team All-NBA nods.
Sixers Wire Reporter Ky Carlin asked George straight up why he hasn’t ever received a tribute from the Pacers.
“I’m not sure,” George said. “We were joking with the guys, and they were like, you know, ‘Do you still get a tribute video when you go to Indiana?’ I was like, ‘I’ve never gotten a tribute video since I’ve been going back to Indiana and that was eight years ago.’ It does, you know, it sucks. I think the way things played out still holds a grudge to them and they don’t realize the great runs we had in the time I was there.”
Things turned sour between George and the Pacers in 2017 when he requested a trade heading into the final year of a four-year contract.
He was traded to OKC that summer, after he said he wouldn’t sign an extension and would be leaving in free agency the following summer if he wasn’t traded.
PG helped to get the Pacers into the playoffs in 6-7 seasons, including back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2013 & 2014.
“I came into that situation where Indiana was struggling,” George told Carlin. “They just got over the ‘Malice at the Palace’. … There were some dark clouds covering that Pacers team, and, you know, they weren’t, you know, a force in the East. Obviously, they had good talent with Danny Granger there, but I thought I was a part of that resurgence.”
George may get the homecoming he has been wanting after all, Dustin Dopirak of The Indy Star reports.
“After seeing published comments from Paul George lamenting the fact he hasn’t been extensively honored for his contributions to the Indiana Pacers when he’s returned to Gainbridge Fieldhouse with other teams, the Pacers’ front office intends to reach out to George and will look to honor his accomplishments in future returns, a league source told IndyStar,” he reports.
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