For his amazing playoffs performance, Kendrick Perkins lauds Paul George putting him in the same category of “superstar” as teammate Kawhi Leonard.
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Ever since Paul George had a poor performance in the NBA bubble at Orlando last year, he made sure to regain the reputation he once had of a superstar.
Throughout the 2020-2021 campaign, PG13 alongside Kawhi Leonard, balled out to help the Los Angeles Clippers clinch the 4th seed in the West with an impressive 47-25 record.
Paul even averaged 23.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 47/41/86 shooting splits, while making his 7th All-Star game appearance. His solid regular season performance earned him an All-NBA third-team selection too.
However, it is during this postseason that George has been playing out of his mind while proving all his doubters wrong. Despite being down 2-0 in the first two playoffs series, he led his team from the front and has now helped LAC play their first-ever Conference Finals.
Fighting for his franchise’s maiden NBA Finals appearance, Paul has been sensational in the absence of Kawhi. In the 7 playoffs games in which The Klaw has been sidelined with a knee injury, PG13 has played on an MVP level averaging 30.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
Also Read: Paul George responds to his critics after 41 point explosion in game 5
“Paul George is now on the same category of superstar as Kawhi Leonard”: Kendrick Perkins
Even in Game 5 of the WCF against the Phoenix Suns, George had a career night, putting up his playoffs best 41 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
Following his legendary performance, several analysts and fellow players commended the Clippers forward. Kendrick Perkins was one of them. On ESPN’s “First Take” show, the analyst lauded Paul by calling him a “superstar”. Perkins complimented PG:
“Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant are megastars. Megastars is way different than superstars. It’s a lot of superstars in the league today. Guys like Trae Young, guys like Luka Doncic, guys like Paul George.”
“Kawhi (Leonard) and Paul George, right now, are in the same category (of superstar), if you ask me. What Paul George is doing right now and how he is leading the Clippers, right now without Kawhi Leonard… Just think about it. They only knocked off the Utah Jazz, who happen to have the best record in the NBA, the number 1 seed overall.”
Also Read: DeMarcus Cousins defends Clippers superstar after historic Game 5 performance vs Suns
What Perkins is saying is absolutely true. Credits have to be given to Paul George when required. He has had some historic games during the course of his playoffs run and joined only Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant as the players to put up a minimum of 20 points in all of their postseason games.
However, Paul and co. are currently suffering a 3-2 series deficit against an in-form Phoenix team lead by CP3. Is there enough left in Paul George’s tank to come back and win the series? Only time will tell. And if LAC actually manages to do it, not only will they be creating history, but PG will be proving all his haters wrong.
