There can be no doubt in any basketball fan’s mind that Paul George is an elite two-way player who, in his heyday, could be unstoppable offensively with his versatility and is the toughest guy on the floor to get a bucket against.
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With a career scoring average of over 20 points per game, the Clippers forward is also a 4x All-Defensive Team member. But is he one of the greatest two-way players of all time? He thinks so.
Paul George keeps himself at the Top-5 of the best two-way players of all time
In a recent episode of Podcast P, the 8x All-Star could not resist and brought up the subject of the best two-way players in the NBA and chose himself alongside Gary Payton, Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, and Hakeem Olajuwon.
“Healthy and locked in I think I’m up there with the best to play both ends,” said George.
One thing, you cannot help but notice there is everyone on that list except for PG13 has at least 9 All-Defensive Team selections compared to his four. Not to forget they also won Defensive Player of the Year awards at least once in their career.
Does a two-way list w/o Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan make any sense?
Those two also might not have won a DPOY in their astonishingly long career, but any all-time defensive list, especially a two-way one, is invalid without them.
Now it’s understandable that was doing it position wise and neither of them played small forward, so, he is not claiming to be better than them. But he did overlook MJ’s teammate, Scottie Pippen in that position.
Is PG a better two-way player than Scottie? Not even on his best day, I would say.
Also read: “Jayson Tatum is Going Crazy”: Paul George Has Celtics’ All-Star as His 2023 MVP Frontrunner
