Paul George

Lore & Background

George was born in Los Angeles County in Palmdale, California, and is the son of Paul George and Paulette George. He grew up with two older sisters: Teiosha, who played basketball at Pepperdine, and Portala, who played volleyball at CSU-San Bernardino. George idolized Lakers star Kobe Bryant, and he grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. George spent most of his free time playing basketball at the park or one-on-one against his older sister Teiosha. He attended Knight High School and played for Pump and Run of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) where he played with Jrue Holiday. George attended Knight High School in Palmdale. As a sophomore, he began the season on the JV team and was moved up to varsity after the season started. Recruiters began noticing George during the summer of 2007, when he competed in AAU tournaments. Sensing George's potential, his coach handed him a leading role his senior season. That year, George led Knight to the Golden League championship, and was named the Golden League Most Valuable Player, the Antelope Valley Press Player of the Year, and a member of the Daily News 2007–08 All-Area Boys' basketball team. He ended his senior year averaging 23.2 points and 11.2 rebounds. George was not considered a major prospect by colleges. Rivals.com labeled him as a three-star recruit and ranked him 20th among a class of California prospects that was highlighted by Jrue Holiday and DeMar DeRozan. George verbally committed to Santa Clara, the first school that offered him a scholarship, but he later de-committed from them because his high school coach thought he should keep his options open. After a positive experience attending Teiosha's Midnight Madness event at Pepperdine University, George committed to Pepperdine on August 9, 2007. Midway through his senior season, he de-committed from Pepperdine after coach Vance Walberg resigned from the program. He ultimately chose Fresno State over offers from schools like Georgetown and Penn State because it was closer to home which allowed for his family to watch his games and because he liked the campus. George played two years at California State University, Fresno, more commonly known as Fresno State. In his first game with the Bulldogs, he scored 14 points in a winning effort against Sacramento State. The following game, George recorded 25 points and 10 rebounds in a

In Their Own Story

The arena is humming at a frequency that vibrates in your sternum. You can see the ball bounce off the floor, see the silhouette of #13 rise above the inbound pass, hang in the air a half-second longer than physics should allow, and then the swish is almost an afterthought. The crowd detonates. You feel it in your chest before you hear it. Around you, strangers are hugging, a kid in the seat in front of you is screaming his father's name, and the black-and-gold sea is a single, breathing organism. For four seconds, the rest of the league doesn't exist. There is only this court, this shot, this city that refused to be small.

Reader's Guide

On March 31, 2010, George announced that he would forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility at Fresno State and enter the 2010 NBA draft. He made his first appearance on a 2010 mock draft on Draft Express a month into his sophomore season. By May 2010, mock drafts such as Draft Express, ESPN.com, and The Hoops Report predicted that George would be selected 12th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. Two days before the draft, Marc J. Spears from Yahoo! Sports wrote an article about an anonymous Eastern Conference scout stating that "in five years, Paul George will be the best player to come out of this draft". Hoping to draft Derrick Favors, the Pacers had discussed a draft trade with the Nets that would have sent Danny Granger and the 10th pick to the Nets for Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and the 3rd overall pick, but the deal fell through. George was invited to sit in the green room during the draft and was selected tenth overall by the Indiana Pacers. He became the highest NBA draft pick in Fresno State history. On July 1, 2010, he signed his rookie contract with the Pacers; a two-year guaranteed deal worth $3.9 million, with team options for a third and fourth year. On October 27, George made his NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs, playing 23 minutes and scoring 4 points on 1–5 shooting. In a game against the Washington Wizards, he knocked down five three-pointers and finished with a then-career-high 23 points. George averaged 7.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists on 45% shooting in his first season, starting 19 of his 61 games. For the 2011 Playoffs, George was one of only two rookies from the 2010 NBA Draft to be in the starting lineup for his team, the other being Landry Fields for the New York Knicks. In the playoffs, the Pacers lost in five games to the Chicago Bulls, led by Derrick Rose. Upon completion of his inaugural season, George was named to the 2011 NBA All-Rookie Second Team. On February 3, 2012, George recorded 30 points, 7 three-pointers made, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 1 blocked shot in a win against the Dallas Mavericks. George was selected to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest and Rising Stars Challenge during the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend. In the Slam Dunk Contest, George completed a 360° windmill dunk in the dark and dunked over teammates Dahntay Jones and Roy Hibbert. The windmill dunk is when a player brings the ball

Did You Know?

• George was selected 10th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2010 NBA draft, the highest draft pick in Fresno State history.
• He led the Pacers to their first Eastern Conference Finals trip since 2004 in 2013.
• George suffered a broken leg in 2014 while competing for a roster spot on the United States national team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
• He was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017, not directly to the Los Angeles Clippers.
• George's number 24 was retired by Fresno State on November 10, 2019.