Paul George experienced a warm reception of boos during his return to Los Angeles on Wednesday night, marking his first visit since leaving the Clippers last summer to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
Fans at the Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena with a capacity of 18,000 (but with 15,627 in attendance), made their feelings known by booing George when he was introduced.
The crowd continued to boo every time he touched the ball during the game. Early in the game, George responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers.
“Boo him tonight and love him afterwards,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. In the 110-98 loss, George scored 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting, adding seven rebounds in 24 minutes. The 76ers dropped to 1-6 on the season.
“He was getting a lot of attention, lots of double-teams,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “He had some good buckets and played some pretty good defense at times as well, but again, he’s still working his way back conditioning-wise.”
This game marked just George’s second of the season after recovering from a left knee injury. He had scored 15 points in 32 minutes during the 76ers’ 118-116 loss at Phoenix on Monday.
“They’re throwing a lot of stuff at me that I’m quite not ready for at this moment because I’m still just trying to get back healthy,” George said. “I’ll be better. I’ll put the work in, but it is a rough patch.”
Late in the first quarter, the Clippers played a tribute video for George on the giant halo board above the court. He waved to acknowledge the polite applause from the fans.
“Any time I tried to lock in and get prepared, I look over and see someone I knew,” he said. “Instantly it took me out of that mindset of getting prepared and then I tried to lock back in and there’s another person.”
In five seasons with the Clippers, Paul George, who is from nearby Palmdale, helped the team reach its first-ever Western Conference Finals. However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in the last two years.
“He’s a special talent,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
George chose to opt out of his $48 million player option with the Clippers to become a free agent and was eventually recruited by the Philadelphia 76ers to play alongside Joel Embiid.
“It’s stupid,” George said about the boos. “I was a free agent. It wasn’t something that I demanded a trade or went against the team here. I did what was best for me in that situation.”
The Clippers are 4-4 to start the season, which is not the type of record they hoped for as they try to attract more fans to their new arena.
“I wish it would’ve been a little more packed out,” George said. “This thing is amazing, what (owner Steve) Ballmer did and his vision. It is the best arena to play in.”
A special seating section called “The Wall,” made up of dedicated Clippers fans sitting near the visiting team’s bench, also showed their thoughts on George.
“I think I won The Wall,” George said. “They got to do a little bit better.”
One fan held up a sign that read, “Paul G, Please Come Back.” The Clippers are currently without Kawhi Leonard, who has not played this season due to issues with his surgically repaired right knee again.
Besides George, the team also lost Russell Westbrook from their Big Four, leaving Leonard and James Harden as the remaining stars.
“There ain’t no bad blood. I talked to those guys throughout the whole process,” George said. “Regardless if we’re teammates or not, those are lifelong bonds that you build. Whatever happens in basketball kind of doesn’t affect that relationship.”
