'These Dudes Are Major Superstars': Former Teammate Defends Paul George and Russell Westbrook From ‘Unfair’ Criticism

Paul George is one of the most slandered players of the current era. Having been unlucky with injuries throughout his career, fans have gotten after P for his absences, and even his playoff performances. After a stellar playoff with the Clippers, PG reclaimed the name and dubbed himself Playoff P. Even his podcast name, Podcast P, initially comes from a place of fan derision. George is only the tip of the iceberg in this regard.

Raymond Felton was a good role player, but never quite enough to gain expectations or bad enough to disappoint them. He ended his career playing with Paul George and Russell Westbrook on the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he saw the type of insanity they had to deal with regularly.

Felton’s final two years coincided with the two years of the Paul George Thunder experience. First, the supposed superteam lost to the Utah Jazz, led by a rookie Donovan Mitchell, in the first round. The next year, they were sent home by Damian Lillard’s half-court ‘bad shot’ over George.

Felton detailed how unfair criticisms and flat-out hatred have followed and in some cases overshadowed both former Thunder stars. He joined George on Podcast P to reminisce.

“We was locked in. We was tied in,” started Felton, remembering the 2018-19 Paul George experience. “I was kinda one of the older guys on the team, so I was the vet… somebody gotta hold everybody accountable and I feel like I was that guy… but ay, that man was frying people.”

PG’s near-MVP season was certainly a sight to behold. He finished 3rd in both MVP and DPOY and likely would’ve won Clutch Player of the Year if it had existed back then. He hit game winners all over the country, from Philly to Brooklyn to anywhere else.

Maybe that’s why the slander ramped up so heavily when he was traded to LA for a record number of draft picks, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari. Unfortunately for basketball fans and Clippers believers alike, George would never reach that standard of play again, and the 213 era of LA’s little brother franchise ended without a Finals appearance.

Still, it shouldn’t erase his career accomplishments. As Felton put it, “Once again, you got these clowns out here, who feel like they got so much to say about playing the game of basketball, and they never did what he actually did. But, you know, for them to have the words that they say about P or about Russ… I played with those guys and I know the body of work. I know what they put in.”

“These dudes really work. These dudes are major superstars in the league, in the world,” he continued, “but people don’t understand it… There’s a lot of guys out there who have that fame, but they really don’t love the game, they don’t like the work. I can honestly say, seeing it, PG does.”

Expectations are the thief of joy. If you consider George’s spot as a late lottery pick who wasn’t much of a contributor behind Danny Granger for his first few years, who only got a larger role after injuries unfortunately melted Granger’s knee, then George is a runaway, all-time great, unprecedented success story.

Unfortunately, as he grew and grew as a player, it was never fast enough to catch up to what people thought he could be. After those early series for the Indiana Pacers, where he went face to face with prime LeBron James and the Heatles Miami Heat, nothing could scratch that itch.

Basketball should be fun. While his career may not be everything that people expected after his early meteoric rise, it is certainly a great one. George will be remembered as one of the best ball-handling forwards ever. His smoothness off the dribble, combined with his shotmaking, has inspired the next generation to a huge degree. That should, and will, count for something.