The same week Jared Dudley’s book was released, Paul George responded in a big way.
While George might not concern himself with the comments of a Lakers bench player, one look at social media on Wednesday would’ve distracted him enough from his daily routine.
Dudley released a book detailing the Lakers bubble journey. One specific section stated that the Lakers took offense to comments from George earlier that season, in which he claimed the Clippers were the team to beat in Los Angeles. Obviously, by the end of the 2019-20 campaign, the Lakers proved George incorrect. But evidently the comment coming specifically from a player of George’s caliber irked Dudley and Co.
“But we think it’s disrespectful for Paul George, who hasn’t won, to put himself on the level of Bron (LeBron James) and AD (Anthony Davis),” wrote Dudley. “This motivates us. When we see those guys around the compound, we don’t really kick it with them. The one exception of course is Markieff [Morris], whose twin brother, Marcus, is on the Clippers. This probably keeps tensions from boiling over.”
Whether Dudley likes it or not, PG13 is a star in this league
George is a controversial figure, not that it’s of much fault of his own. The Clippers star came up short in the playoffs last season and served as a key reason LA didn’t reach their ultimate goal and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals.
The nickname “Pandemic P” followed George on social media, and pretty clearly impacted his level of play. But 2020-21 is a new campaign, and George is playing like a motivated force. On Wednesday, George had 36 points (far more than Dudley has scored all season for the Lakers), and made 13-of-20 shot attempts, including 8-of-9 from behind the arc.
George has hopefully learned not to concern himself with the opinions of others, especially veteran players merely trying to stir up noise for the sake of sales.