{"id":964150,"date":"2026-11-14T12:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T12:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/964150\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T12:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T12:12:17","slug":"the-nba-is-all-about-fit-paul-george-and-the-celtics-fit-perfectly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/964150\/","title":{"rendered":"The NBA is all about fit. Paul George and the Celtics fit perfectly."},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all done it. We\u2019ve judged players on various teams around the league based on preconceived notions and false narratives. We\u2019ve jumped to conclusions based on what we think we know about someone rather than what we actually know.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s human nature, and it\u2019s not our fault. When we see someone act a certain way once or twice, we assume they act that way all the time. Basketball mirrors life in the sense that one snapshot from the wrong point viewpoint can dictate how we feel about something or someone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I was somewhat skeptical when the Celtics<\/a> acquired Paul George. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t respect Paul George as a basketball player or respect him as a person. I did. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t think he could coexist next to Jayson Tatum. I did. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t think he still had anything left in the tank. I did.<\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t view George as a winner. I know he has made the Conference Finals three times, but I didn\u2019t view him as someone who could bring a team from very good to great and reach that next level.<\/p>\n

I viewed him as someone who could put up stats with the best of them but those stats didn\u2019t carry much value, at least at this point in his career. I didn\u2019t think he could come in and seamlessly replace Jaylen Brown, play just as well if not better than Brown and help the Celtics maintain their perch as a true contender.<\/p>\n

I was wrong. He can do all of those things, and he is proving it on a nightly basis. I feel like they should be printing out shirts that read: \u201cI was wrong about Paul George\u201d or \u201cI owe Paul George an apology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every Seinfeld fan out there has enjoyed the Summer of George. Now, we get to enjoy the Season of George. He looks like a new man, both physically and spiritually, and someone who is playing with a freedom and purpose he hasn\u2019t had in years.<\/p>\n

He resembles a player good enough to lead the Celtics to the promised land. I know, I know, it\u2019s only mid-November, and George has been injury prone throughout his career.<\/p>\n

But, I think the Celtics have the right approach where he isn\u2019t playing every game. He looks fresh and is oozing with confidence and swagger right now. We all hope he avoids a major injury, but regardless of how it shakes out, let\u2019s make sure to enjoy what he\u2019s doing. George has gushed about the Celtics\u2019 culture, and it\u2019s clear the admiration is mutual as long as he keeps hooping.<\/p>\n

George is the only player in the NBA averaging at least 22 points and 2 steals per game while shooting at least 44 percent from 3-point range. He has proven he is still a matchup nightmare who is fully capable of taking over a game.<\/p>\n

That must have felt amazing to go into his old arena and light up the 76ers and take over a game that was pegged as a Tatum-Brown duel. On a court with those two stars, LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, George<\/a> was by far the best player.<\/p>\n

I could describe George\u2019s style of play in many ways, but the one that comes to mind more than anything else is smooth. He has a fluidity to his game that I personally didn\u2019t fully appreciate watching him periodically on other teams. Part of it is health, obviously, but part of it is natural ability that was on full display in his Pacers days.<\/p>\n

George is reminding everyone that he is still a dominant force. He might not be as explosive as he once was, but he is still crafty, versatile and highly skilled. He makes smart decisions, defends at a high level, doesn\u2019t force shots, fits in with the Celtics\u2019 system and is clutch.<\/p>\n

I felt similarly about Kristaps Porzingis when he came to Boston. The Celtics have a knack for revitalizing injury-prone players who have (somewhat fairly and somewhat unfairly) developed a mixed reputation.<\/p>\n

George is back to his old self, and as long as he keeps this up, the Celtics are very much in the mix to contend for an NBA title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve all done it. We\u2019ve judged players on various teams around the league based on preconceived notions and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":964151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,361654,531649,590,85],"class_list":["post-964150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celtics-analysis","tag-celtics-highlights","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/964151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}