J.R. Smith Doesn’t Understand The Recent Criticism Of Paul George

Paul George returned to Indiana for the first time since he was traded by the Pacers to the Thunder this past summer. The response from the Indiana faithful was predictably filled with boos in introductions and just about anytime he touched the ball throughout the game.

George didn’t have his best individual performance, struggling on his way to 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting and four turnovers, but the Thunder were able to get him a 100-95 win (much like how they did in Anthony’s first game against New York) and George sealed the game with a late steal and free throws.

The conversation coming into and even after the game was how the former Pacers’ superstar still hadn’t found a comfortable spot in the Thunder’s new trio of stars alongside Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. While most point to it being a matter of it being difficult to manufacture the kind of chemistry needed to make such an arrangement work so quickly, there are some that have begun to criticize George, the basketball player.

George’s struggles are magnified by the play of Victor Oladipo in Indiana, but the idea that George is somehow not the same star he was 8 months ago is fairly ridiculous. J.R. Smith would tend to agree, and posted to Twitter in response to the general criticism going around about George.

While Smith’s opinion of George is almost assuredly the view of most every player in the NBA, considering the whispers about the Cavs potentially trying to make a deadline deal for George, this will raise some eyebrows. The truth is, almost everyone in the league would love to play with Paul George, so it’s not as though Smith is making some radical statement or anything.

Now, there is the angle of the Cavs being reportedly interested in waiting out the Thunder in hopes that George may become available on the market. That would take a dramatic bit of failure on the Thunder’s part and George essentially telling them, as he did Indiana, he was not going to consider them come July 1. The Cavs can hope to add George for a stretch run and bolster their chances against the Celtics in the East and Warriors in a potential Finals rematch, but it feels all the world like a pipe dream considering how invested the Thunder are in George, even for this one season.

Should it happen and Oklahoma City completely bottom out and decide to blow things up, the Cavs can rest assured that at least Smith would be on board with an addition. Also, a shoutout to J.R. who announced he and his wife are having another child in the most J.R. way possible on Twitter shortly after his PG thought.

A hearty congratulations to the Smiths.