After his playoff struggles in the NBA bubble, LA Clippers shield Paul George stated he had to return"with vengeance" this season to tackle the fact that"individuals saw weakness" in him.
"I'm coming back with vengeance," George said of his mentality entering this season after he along with the Clippers blew a 3-1 series lead to the next round to Denver last postseason. "I did not like, not so much of this noise and everything about [the way last year ended], but just the simple fact that people saw weakness.
"And I had to tackle this. I had to reply that. That fueled me. That put me in a place where I needed to return and be myself ."
George told teammates entering the season he was going to return to the form that helped him finish third in MVP voting throughout the 2018-19 year while at Oklahoma City.
said. "That we all knew he would. I feel like he's having an MVP season. And he informed us before the year began, he had been gonna develop with this."
George is shooting career highs of 50.3% in the field, 51.5% from 3-point selection and 91.8% from the free throw line. He made 4 of 8 3-pointers against the Kings. George has made four or more 3s in 10 out of his 12 games this year.
George stated he told teammates that he was planning to return to his MVP form this season because he had no other choice.
"Following the challenging year this past year, it was the only way I could react," George said. "I instantly went straight to a dark area of where I just, I had nothing but to get much better. This was the one thing in my head and the only thing was to get better.
"Nearly two years removed from getting my shoulders worked. ... So I am just in a healthier mind say, I am in a much healthier place."
Last season, George fought because he was coming off two shoulder surgeries following the 2018-19 year old. Throughout the NBA restart from the bubble, George suffered through the worst shooting slump he'd experienced in the playoffs, going 10-for-47 combined in Games 2, 3 and 4, such as inducing 21 of 25 attempts from behind the 3-point lineup, at the first round against Dallas.
George admitted he had experienced bouts of depression and anxiety while at the bubble at Orlando, Florida, as he had been unable to be with his loved ones and loved ones. Then the Clippers collapsed in the next round into the Nuggets.
His corner 3-point attempt that struck the side of the backboard at the fourth quarter symbolized the Clippers' collapse.
George not only was roasted on social networking, but he heard trash talking this season from competitions such as Phoenix's Chris Paul and Devin Booker in a game on Jan. 3 if George and both Suns guards exchanged words. George said that he heard"a great deal of chirping and individuals simply living in the past."
"He managed to exercise this summer," Leonard said. "Last summer he had been limited, likely only could shoot 10 shots a day or so with his shoulder surgeries. He is coming out with conclusion and he's concentrated."
"I can not predict the future," Leonard added on if he saw this coming when both worked out at the offseason. "But all I could say is he set his head into his work, and once I did go work out with him, a lot of his things was like type of game-simulated, functioning on the passes, reads, and it just interpreted over pretty much"
