Paul George understands.
Usually when he shows up in a new place, there’s some level of excitement. He’s supposed to be a missing piece; a big swing that elevates a contender. He’s supposed to be a difference maker.
What he’s not supposed to be is part of an “underwhelming return” in a trade the local fanbase generally hates.
“I understand the circumstances,” he said in his introductory press conference at the Auerbach Center Tuesday afternoon. “I understand how huge JB was not only for the organization but here in the city. I didn’t take it personal. To be honest, they should have a relationship, emotionally, to that trade.”
George is a member of the Boston Celtics, wearing his familiar number 13 again, but it’s an unfamiliar circumstance. At 36 years old having played 78 combined games over the past two regular seasons, George arrives as a question mark for the first time in his career. What he brings to the team is a secondary discussion to who he’ll bring to the team when he’s presumably traded again at some point. Until then, he has to play basketball for a team still hoping to win something.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “Obviously the last two years have been rough, just with injuries. But for myself personally, I feel great again. I feel like I’ve turned that corner of dealing with injuries. And now kind of reestablishing myself from a physical standpoint again. And with that, I can carry it over to the court.”
George swears he feels good again, and that his performance against the Celtics as a Sixer in the playoffs was proof.
“It was almost like a dog being let off the leash,” George said. “Like, you’ve been chained up for so long, and the analogy there is just the limitations again, physically, and then to be healthy again, it just felt like I was able to do things, and quite frankly, might have caught Boston off guard from an expectation that I could no longer move. But I was feeling good. I felt you know that I was able to do all the things out there to gain an advantage or be a weapon. And playoff time is do whatever you can to win. So that’s kind of just where it was.”
George may have beaten the Celtics, but he’s still trying to figure out how to beat teams four times on his way to a championship. The Celtics aren’t heading into the season as favorites to win, but the parity Adam Silver has hoped to build under this new apron system is taking hold. The East is stacked, but with a lot of equally talented teams, giving every team that ultimately makes the playoffs hope that they can make some noise.
“I believe I’m a winning player,” George said. “I believe I’m all about winning, being a winning teammate, a winning locker room guy. I believe I’m a winning guy, and so that’s always going to be a chip on my shoulder. And I’m a guy that, when it’s all said and done, where my legacy falls, being compared to you know guys in my category, I’ve yet to have something to show for it. So for me, that’s where that chip lies on my shoulder.”
Maybe the Celtics can win a championship, but the first thing George is going to have to win is the hearts of fans who are upset that Boston’s superstar duo has been separated. It’s a new Celtics team with new strengths and weaknesses, and George is going to have to show the fans at TD Garden that he’s part of a winning formula.
“I think it’s fair to live with that emotion, given what JB stood for and what he brought, and the history,” George said. “He was a part of raising a banner and winning a championship here. So I’m not saying that that’s going to forever stick, right? But it’s a new group, it’s a new opportunity, and I think they’re getting someone that’s ready to not fill the shoes or fill the void of JB. But from a personal standpoint, myself, I think I can come in and kind of still keep us in that contention and give us a chance to win.”
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