After his playoff fights in the NBA bubble, LA Clippers guard Paul George said he needed to return “with a vengeance” this season to deal with the fact that “people saw weakness” in him.
A highly motivated George continued his torrid start to the season by hitting 8 of 14 shots and scoring 26 points to lead the Clippers in a 138 to 100 loss to the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center on Friday night.
“I’m coming back with a vengeance,” said George of his mentality as he entered this season after he and the Clippers lost a 3-1 lead in the second round against Denver in the last postseason. “I didn’t like it, not so much the noise and everything around [the way last season ended], but just the fact that people saw weakness.
“And I had to resolve this. I had to respond to that. It encouraged me. It put me in a place where I wanted to go back and be myself again.”
George told teammates who were entering the season that he would return to the way that helped him finish third in the MVP vote during the 2018-19 season while in Oklahoma City.
“P is playing at a high level now,” said Clippers striker Marcus Morris Sr .. “What we all knew he would do. I feel like he’s having an MVP season. And he told us that before the year starts , he would come with her. “
George is throwing a career maximum of 50.3% on the pitch, 51.5% on the 3-point line and 91.8% on the free-throw line. He scored 4 out of 8 points out of 3 against the Kings. George made four or more 3s in 10 of his 12 games this season.
George said he told his teammates that he would return to his MVP form this season because he had no other choice.
“After the difficult year last year, it was the only way I was able to respond,” said George. “I immediately went straight to a dark place where I just, I had nothing but to get better. That was the only thing on my mind and the only thing was to get better.
“Almost two years after having my shoulders operated … So, I’m just in a healthier state of mind, I’m in a healthier place.”
Last season, George struggled with two shoulder surgeries after the 2018-19 season. During the NBA’s resumption in the bubble, George suffered from the worst drop of pitches he experienced in the playoffs, going 10 to 47 combined in Games 2, 3 and 4, including 21 of 25 missed attempts behind the 3-point line in the first round against Dallas.
George admitted that he experienced depression and anxiety while he was in the bubble in Orlando, Florida, because he was unable to stay with his family and loved ones. Then the Clippers collapsed in the second round for the Nuggets.
While George and Kawhi Leonard combined to shoot just 10 to 38 and score a combined total of 24 points in Game 7 defeat, George was the one who took a ton of criticism from critics. His attempt at a 3-point corner that hit the side of the table in the fourth period symbolized the collapse of the Clippers.
Not only was George toasted on social media, he also heard bullshit this season from opponents like Chris Paul and Devin Booker from Phoenix during a game on January 3, when George and the two Suns guards exchanged words. George said he heard “many chirps and people living in the past”.
George chose to let his game speak, averaging 25.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals to go with his best shot percentage of his career.
“He was able to exercise this summer,” said Leonard. “Last summer he was limited, he was probably only able to take 10 pictures a day or more with his shoulder surgery. He’s going out with determination and is focused.”
“I can’t predict the future,” added Leonard on whether he predicted it when the two worked off-season. “But all I could say is that he dedicated himself to work and, when I went to work out with him, many of his things seemed like a kind of simulated game, working on passes, readings and just translated a lot.”