Paul George has suffered a lot from the postseason over the years. It has been somewhat undeserved, to be honest. He is a great player who has had some very bad high profile games. He had some great ones too. In 2019, it wasn’t what George did on the court in the Oklahoma City first-round defeat to Portland that put him among the social media sharks, it was what he said at his post-game press conference after Damian Lillard had just launched this series -clinching 35 feet in its grid.
“It was a bad shot,” said George, infamously. “I don’t care what they say. It’s a bad shot.”
George’s logic was not necessarily wrong. For most basketball players, even the best in the world, taking the time to take a 35 foot sidewalk step is no a good shot. But defending Lillard had long called for operating according to a different set of rules. He can make any shot from any point at any time. Frankly, the bigger the moment, the greater the chances of him getting it. George gave him a lot of space, pure and simple.
In Sunday’s All-Star Game, Lillard did it again, this time taking the winner of the game Elam Ending one step into the midfield to give Team LeBron a 170-150 victory over Team Durant.
This time, George was on Lillard’s side as a member of Team LeBron and after the game, he was asked if watching Lillard hit that shot in that situation made him reconsider his ‘bad shot’ position on the Lillard 2019 dagger.
“I think I was criticized for the right reason to call Dame’s playoff chance a bad move,” admitted George, jokingly. “I mean, I see that this guy’s range is crazy. And, I mean, it’s not like it was a half-court move. They’re pitches so well within their reach …” It’s a great pitch, “concluded George when he immobilized him over the 2019 Lillard winner. “Two thumbs up.”
George’s full commentary is below:
This is all good fun, but it is also a legitimate subject. Protecting guys like Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry, who also hit mid-court on Sunday, turned all traditional defensive principles upside down. Protection priorities are reversed, extending seriously to half a block. Over the past season and a half, Lillard hit 8 out of 12 shots from 35-39 feet. And when the game is at stake, he is a killer. No one knows this more than George, who has now seen it from both sides.