Although the Los Angeles Clippers have been playing well over the last two months, there always seems to be trouble lurking for them, even if most NBA observers don’t want to realize it.
Despite having what many considered one of the NBA’s most talented rosters over the last four to five seasons, they have made just one trip to the Western Conference Finals. In both of the previous two seasons, they have failed even to win a single playoff series.
Paul George has a player option for next season that he could decline to become a free agent this summer. There have been “growing whispers” that he may turn down that option to join the Indiana Pacers, the team he spent his first seven pro seasons with.
The Pacers traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017, and according to George, it was said that he would never make the All-Star team in the Western Conference, something he admitted stuck with him.
Not only was that statement incorrect, but George has now been selected to the Western Conference All-Star team five times in his seven seasons playing in the West.
All-Star weekend will take place this year in Indianapolis, which means he will return to his old stomping grounds. It was there where he made his name as an NBA standout while leading a Pacers team that wasn’t exactly teeming with talent to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2013 and 2014.
Besides George’s possible departure this summer, the Clippers should be concerned about his postseason history. The man known as “Playoff P” has been hot and cold throughout his postseason career, and he’s just as likely to have a great game as he is to lay an egg there.
For example, in the 2021 Western Conference Finals, he had 41 points on 15-of-20 shooting in Game 5, but he shot 9-of-26 and 5-of-20 in the previous two contests. In that six-game series, he shot just 42.3 percent overall and 29.1 percent from 3-point range.
More must-reads: