Paul George claps back at Clippers fans after getting booed in return to LA

Paul George's return to Los Angeles was one of the most anticipated events in the early part of the LA Clippers' season. After the excitement of opening Intuit Dome wore off and the Clippers got their first home win, all the attention shifted to PG's return date and doing everything possible to make sure he left the new Inglewood arena with a loss.

The Clippers achieved that feat in beating George's Philadelphia 76ers 110-98, behind another stellar team defensive effort. The cameras and the eyes of fans were fixated on George all night, from the moment his tribute video was played until the final buzzer when Paul finished with a pedestrian 18 points.

There was clearly a noticeable shift in the way the Clippers fans in attendance treated George from the beginning of the night to the end of it. During the tribute video, most of the crowd was happy to give PG applause. But that energy clearly shifted during the game, when he was showered with boos and shown signs that told him to "think before you speak."

Appearing on his podcast this week, George decided to address the situation and how he was treated by the fanbase. PG is aware that many took issue with his now-infamous B-team comment, but apparently the former Clippers wing did not see the issue with what he said.

Paul George says Clippers fans proved him right

"What did I say that was wrong?" he asked. "I did not call the Clippers, 'the B-team,' I said it felt like the B-team, just because of everywhere you go, people in LA say, 'you should be a Laker.' That wasn't minimizing, that wasn't downplaying. I was a Clipper. That's who I chose to play for. I wasn't comparing them and saying they were underneath the Lakers. It was just how LA treats players that are in LA."

As much as some Clippers fans may want to hate George now, it is honestly hard to argue with this logic. If you have been in or lived in Los Angeles, you know that the Lakers are the city's number one team to the locals. That is not to say the Clippers are irrelevant, but PG was not wrong to say the Clippers feel like the secondary team in LA based on the overall culture of the city.

George doubled down on his comments, and even fired back at Clipper nation as well. "But they proved me right," he said. "They didn't pack out and they aren't packing out Intuit Dome. Like, that's y'all's home, that's y'all's team. Go f------ support them. Go be there every night. Go show that this is who our players are, this is who our team is. I didn't understand it."

Now this is where Clippers fans will probably take issue with their former player. George seemed to take issue with being booed, but many in Clipper nation likely feel he deserved the boos after his comments and how he came up short for LA in last year's playoffs. Regardless of anyone's personal feelings of the situation, this new rivalry between George and Clippers fans will be one to follow going forward.