The Paul George situation was always an interesting one for the LA Clippers. But now that he's finished his first season with the Philadelphia 76ers, it's very abundantly clear that the Clippers came out on the right side of history.
George didn't have a great campaign in the City of Brotherly Love, and part of that was due to multiple injuries that plagued him. It was certainly an unfortunate circumstance, but also not one that was totally unpredictable. PG has dealt with his fair share of injuries throughout his career, and Clippers fans know this as well as anyone.
Allowing George to leave and sign with the 76ers was always the right choice. And while we know that correlation does not always equal causation, it was still the right choice for LA not to re-sign him. That is to say, he was going to have an injury risk wherever he played. The fact that he ended up with an injury-mired 2024-25 season simply serves as confirmation bias.
But it's that bias that led to Clipper nation largely letting out a sigh of relief this past season. Not that they were happy George was struggling, but that they no longer had to worry about him as fans of their team.
Clippers fans can feel vindicated about allowing George to leave LA
As we look back on things, maybe some younger fans might wonder why the Clippers traded for this guy in the first place. I mean, if you're a younger basketball fan and don't remember beyond a few short seasons ago, you probably didn't have exposure to the peak version of Paul George that played on the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2018-19.
That was undoubtedly the best Paul George any of us have seen. He was a masterful defender who was an all-world offensive creator and playmaker. That version of George finished the season as an All-Defenisve first team member, an All-NBA honoree, was selected as an All-Star, and finished third place in both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year voting. He was absolutely a player worth pushing all your chips to the center of the table for.
So don't blame the Clippers for making the move to acquire him (after all, if you really know the history you know Kawhi Leonard was never coming without his running mate in George). It was a worthy gamble that just never paid off.
But if you're a Clippers fan that doesn't care for Paul George any longer, you have every reason to feel vindicated right now. Don't get too high and mighty, because PG is a great player and he's going to bounce back eventually. But you've at least got this moment to hold on to for now.