It doesn’t take a lip reader to tell us there’s a lot of trash talk in the NBA. These are the greatest athletes in the world playing in the highest-pressure situations, and, naturally, testosterone will take over sometimes. It’s often all in good fun, and most players can take what they dish out, but at other times, it can go too far, like whenever Draymond Green gets involved, for instance.
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Podcast P with Paul George has been on hiatus since February, but its host made an appearance on The Pivot with Ryan Clark this week in a wide-ranging discussion that helped fill the void.
George reflected on why his first season with the Sixers was so disappointing, and he spoke about the teams still in the playoffs. One particularly illuminating part of his appearance was when he spoke about how his friendships with other players have been affected by trash talk that crosses the line.
“I understand competing,” George said. “I know how to cut that on and turn it on, but then it’s one thing, you build a relationship, then you get on the court, and you start saying wild s***. ‘Damn, like, you always felt this way?'”
George said he doesn’t like to talk about it too much, but he briefly touched on how his relationship with Chris Paul soured for this very reason when he was on the Clippers and Paul was on the Suns.
“I would work out with CP in the summers,” George said. “It was a brotherhood that I thought was with CP … Then we get into a series, and the words get thrown out there. Hold on, like what? Where’d this come from?”
George said on his own podcast earlier this year, “I’m not the fondest of CP these days,” even though he and Paul used to be close. Chris even recommended an eye doctor to George so he could get LASIK, but at this point, there seems to be no repairing the relationship. “It is what it is,” he said, both on Podcast P and on The Pivot.
Paul George is not ready to forgive and forget when it comes to Chris Paul
It’s such a shame, especially because the former friends deserve some of the credit for Donovan Mitchell staying in the draft back in 2017. As Mitchell tells it, he was “100% coming back” to school, but after George and Paul worked out with him at a pre-draft camp put on by CAA (the agency which represented them both and now also represents Mitchell), the two All-Stars convinced the Louisville sophomore to turn pro after all.
George never mentioned exactly what Paul said to him to make him feel this way. It must have been pretty rough to cause a rift like this. They say time heals all wounds, but fans shouldn’t hold their breath on this one.
