Written by Gregg Doyel at IndyStar.com
The spotlight is shining now, and Paul George has gone looking for it. He believes superstardom is his destiny, and he knows an ascending moment when he sees one.
And he sees one in these 2016 NBA playoffs.
He also saw one a few months ago in this same Air Canada Centre, site of the 2016 NBA All-Star Game, where Paul George scored 41 points, one shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s record from 1962.
“Basically,” Pelicans forward Anthony Davis said that night, “he was showing guys that he’s back to rare form.”
Basically, I’m telling you today, that’s by design. Aside from his astounding talent, the biggest thing about Paul George is his ego – which can be such a great thing. At times, sure, the ego drives you nuts. He sees the game as a series of opportunities to elevate his brand, like the way he seeks out only opposing stars for postgame handshakes,and that can be off-putting.
But that ego fuels games like Saturday, when George absolutely destroyed the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round series. He scored 33 points and hounded Raptors star DeMar DeRozan into a miserable offensive game. That, too, was by design. In 2008, DeRozan was the superstar recruit from Compton, Calif., the No. 6 player in the country. That same year, 65 miles to the north, George was a little-known kid out of Palmdale – rated No. 292.
Back then, Paul George said Sunday, DeMar DeRozan was the star he wanted to be.
Now George has set his sights higher. He’s not naming names, but you can guess who they are. When people talk about the greatest basketball players in the world, he wants to be in the conversation.
“I always wanted to be the best,” he was telling me Sunday. “A lot of guys have different motivations. My motivation has been being elite in this league.”
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