The NBA may have acknowledged that Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw did not tamper with Paul George when he was a member of the Pacers, but that didn’t stop PG13 from poking some fun at the situation.
George, who was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, squared off against his hometown Lakers at Staples Center on Wednesday night. Lakers fans treated him as if he were one of their own, as he received a loud ovation when his name was announced during player introductions. The Thunder forward was asked about the ovation after the game, and had this to say about it (via Matthew Moreno of lakersnation.com):
Paul George on the ovation he received: "It was awesome, for one. Just being home, being in front of friends, family. And the respect, the love, the recruitment. It was awesome to get that love and energy."
— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) January 4, 2018
Notice how George snuck in “the recruitment” toward the end of his response there, clearly poking fun at the allegations of Shaw recruiting him to the Lakers. George vehemently denied that any tampering took place, and told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth “there was nothing there” before Wednesday’s game tipped off.
It’s great that George was able to find some humor in a situation that he likely really didn’t want to have to deal with during the season, as it could have been viewed as a distraction. He can now move on and focus on helping the Thunder make a playoff run, but it was great to see him sneak in a funny zinger before closing the door on the issue.
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