Paul George knows that Indianapolis sports fans love banners, which is why he doesn’t get all the hate he received on Wednesday night when the Oklahoma City Thunder played the Pacers in George’s return to the city.
George was not exactly given a warm welcome in his return to his former team, but that was certainly not a surprise after the All-Star told Indiana he would not sign a long-term deal with the team after this season. That all but forced the Pacers to trade him, which they did shortly before free agency began this past summer.
George got the last laugh as the Thunder escaped with a win, a much-needed one at that, but the boos from the crowd and some of the signs certainly got to him. Others outside of the George/Pacers drama, like J.R. Smith, don’t understand why he’s gotten so much criticism for leaving the team, but those in Pacers jerseys in the crowd have clearly made their minds up: George wronged them, and they won’t forget anytime soon.
George did defend himself after the game on Wednesday, wondering why fans didn’t appreciate what he did for the team while he was on it. In particular, he wondered why they weren’t happy about all the laundry he hung up over the court.
“It was tough. I was ultimately part of hanging banners that will forever be in this arena, of winning our division and being a part of some really good Pacers teams,” George told Yahoo Sports. “It sucks that they forget about that and want to relish on a couple of months instead of what I’ve done for years here. It’s fine. I thought I handled it as well as I could. But I’ve moved on and I’m ready for the next part of my career.”
Personally I’d like to think this is actually a subtle dig at the people of Indianapolis who gladly suffer through having AFC Finalist banners hanging in the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium. Those, of course, are complete nonsense. But George clearly knows fans in Indianapolis love pointless banners. He’s probably just wondering why they don’t care about his pointless banners.
