Paul George, guard for the LA Clippers, said he had a conversation with a referee when cases with Phoenix Suns guards Chris Paul and Devin Booker escalated, leading to technical violations involving George and Booker Sunday in the fourth term was asked.
After scoring 39 points and hitting seven three-pointers to lead the Clippers to a 112-107 victory in Phoenix, George suggested he heard ‘a lot of chirping’ about his struggles in the bubble during the past post-season in Orlando, Florida.
“You have to ask them,” George said when asked what happened to Paul and Booker. “I talked to the ref, CP jumped in and it increased from there. Like I said: I never had words, there was never an exchange; there was always peace when I was on the floor , but for whatever reason, there has been a lot of chirping and people have only lived in the past.
“Last year was last year. I’m in a new situation; I’m in a different mindset. You have to ask them about these things you hate. I do not know where they came from.”
After he and Booker were hit by 7 minutes of double technical fouls, 20 seconds left in the game, George scored five points and then found an open Nicolas Batum for a three-point that overtook the Clippers’ 11.9-second victory. Shortly before the technical errors on George and Booker, the Suns reduced a backlog of 60-29 to 96-94 with 9:10 left.
“I had a tough year last year,” George said in the national conversation with the Clippers’ broadcast after the game. “People think it’s sweet, man, people think it’s sweet because I was off. I did not hear any of this in my ten years in the league, but last year people continued to do it. And I had to answer it. And I’m ready to compete. I’m back. “
When asked what George said to Booker that led to the technical errors, the Suns guard said he could not remember.
“It’s honestly nothing,” Booker said after the Suns’ four-game winning streak was cut. “It’s nothing.”
George started the season strong and is only the third player in NBA history to score at least 30 tries through his first seven games of the season. This comes after a candid George during a shooting incident in the bubble revealed that he experienced depression while on the NBA campus in Orlando and not near loved ones. The Clippers would blow a 3-1 lead and a double-digit lead in three consecutive losses to the Denver Nuggets later in the second round of the playoffs.
George and Kawhi Leonard struggled in Game 7 against Denver, with George shooting 4-for-16 and scoring 10 points, while Leonard scored 6-for-22 with 14 points.
Before the playoffs in early August, Patrick Beverley and George had a back-and-forth junk session with Portland’s Damian Lillard on social media after Beverley teased Lillard by pointing to his wrist and waving to him at the Blazers All-Star missed free kicks in a loss to the Clippers in the bubble.
Lillard later reminded reporters what he had done in recent meetings with George and Beverley, and how he had sent George and the Oklahoma City Thunder home the previous post-season, leading to more comments on social media. It was more than a month before the Clippers’ playoff game against Denver.
George said he finds motivation in the off-season due to criticism of his game in the bubble.
“Absolutely,” George said. “And that’s why I’re focused this year. I heard all the noise and used all that noise for motivation.”
While Leonard struggled a 4-for-21 shooting night against the Suns, George hit 6 of his first 9 three-point attempts and scored 32 points in the fourth quarter. Booker scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth point to help Phoenix nearly wipe out the 31-point deficit.
But George said he was surprised when he directed talks at him.
“I’m not talking, I’m playing my game,” George said. “For whatever reason, these are guys talking. Like people have never heard of talking. [before], and it’s never aimed at me, but for some reason it’s very mouthful. And that’s good. I have to play with it.
“I’ll go through the fire. It’s good. As long as we get to the top, we win and I help my team win. That’s all that matters. Save the rest, they can do what they want. I’m locked up and it’s more about me being calm and at ease. ‘