Paul George didn't play particularly well in the Disney bubble, one of the reasons the Los Angeles Clippers failed to win a championship.
After taking a 3-1 series lead over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Clippers blew the two-game advantage and became the laughingstock of the NBA world.
George and Kawhi Leonard, two of the best players in the NBA, failed to score a single point for the Clippers in the fourth quarter of Game 7 against the Nuggets. PG-13 even hit the side of the backboard on an open 3-pointer from the corner.
Clippers fans have been trying to figure out why George played so poorly in the NBA bubble. The All-Star small forward went on “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and explained why he was never himself in the bubble.
Via Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times:
“You FaceTiming your family, you FaceTiming your kids. At some point you start to break, and it’s like, man, ‘what am I doing here?'” Clippers star Paul George said.
“Like, this ain’t it right here. I understand we’re trying to win the championship and that’s the focus, but everything gotta line up for that to happen. … My hat’s off to the Lakers for being able to accomplish that, but myself, I struggled with it.
“It didn’t feel right, like I couldn’t, I didn’t have that fire that I usually have going into matchups. Going into the games I knew I wanted to destroy [opponents], but it was just because the environment, like, this is what you want right here. It wasn’t like playoff times at all. It didn’t feel like playoff time at all. And that’s why you had, like, role players having the best games of they lives. There was no pressure, and for star players it was all of the pressure. It was just different; it was a complete 180 of hoops that’s usually normal to you.”
In 13 playoff games against the Dallas Mavericks and Nuggets, George averaged 20.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Clippers while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. While those aren't bad numbers, the Clippers needed more from George.
It's going to be interesting to see how George plays for the Clippers this upcoming season. He's under a lot of pressure to perform well.
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