On Thursday night Paul George will meet his ex-team, the Indiana Pacers (at 2am on DAZN) for the first time. Before the duel, the OKC star has admitted to USA Today’s mistakes.
“First of all, I would like to thank Indiana as a state because it has given me and my family a home for over seven years. I learned and experienced so much there,”said George.
He could understand that some Pacers fans blame him for his change. George had called for a trade and so to speak forced Pacers to act:”I’m obviously just a human being,”says George,”We could have done better, the whole process could have gone much better. I’ll take my share of the responsibility for that.”
Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the way things went:”At the end of the day I did what was best for me and my family. I had to go on, it was the right decision for me. I’m happy with it,”says George.
Pacers coach Nate McMillan recently said that George was not a leader and therefore not ideal for the role he played in Indiana:”Some guys just want to play. That’s fine, too. You have to be yourself and not pretend you’re someone else,”says McMillan,”Paul just wanted to play. In OKC, he’s back in a role like that. The leader is Russell Westbrook. He can just play there.”
With regard to these statements, George said that he is not a mere leader, but he always sets a good example:”I’m not the one who yells at people all the time,”says George,”I prefer to lead by playing on a high level. That’s what I expect of everyone else. I always carry my burden.”
“All this other stuff, Paul’s not a leader? Fine, fine. Then get people to lead. Let me help you with that. We have not been successful there, for whatever reason. Paul is a terrible leader? I’ll take that on myself,”sarcastically grinned George.”I had a good trip there. I’ve done my best.”
George became an All-Star four times in seven years with the Pacers and reached the Conference Finals twice.