Paul George Backtracks on Criticism of Jazz Rookie Ace Bailey

Paul George is taking back his earlier comments about Jazz rookie Ace Bailey and the unique path he took leading into the 2025 NBA Draft.

George admitted he may have been too quick to judge the fifth-overall pick’s decision to skip multiple pre-draft workouts and create his own list of preferred teams.

“I want to kind of retract what I said,” George explained on Podcast P. “How can we get on a kid that kind of knows what he wants? We’re not in his shoes. He wants to do it his way. He’s good enough, he’s got the talent, he’s gonna go where he wants to go. That’s his decision. It could have backfired, but it didn’t. He’s still in a great situation; he still gets to showcase what he could do. He had a great game too. He went crazy, showed his potential, a flash of it.”

“How can we get on a kid that kinda knows what he wants?… He wants to do it his way… I hate being that person to be like, ‘Oh, you should’ve done this.’ Everybody has their own path.”

Paul George on Ace Bailey 👀

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Before the draft, George had questioned Bailey’s choices, saying the 19-year-old wasn’t “in a position to be making those demands.”

But after watching Bailey land with the Jazz and flash his talent in Summer League play, George sees things differently.

“I was kind of thinking about it like, I hate being that person to be like, ‘Oh, you should have did that.’ Like, everybody has their own path, however way you want to trailblaze it, that’s on you,” George continued. “Who are we to be like, ‘Nah, you got to do it this way or that way.’ So I kind of want to retract a little bit on that, because he is a young kid and he will find his way, but it’s dope when you can kind of make your own path.”