Paul George did not have the best of endings to his and the Los Angeles Clippers' run in the 2024 NBA playoffs. George followed up a 33-point effort in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks with two straight stinkers as the Clippers fell to the Mavs in six games. Now, George is entering free agency, and there appears to be a legitimate chance that he could be playing for another team next season.

Nonetheless, George hopes that, regardless of what will happen in free agency, the Clippers could take a look at his contributions over the past five seasons and deem him worthy of a jersey retirement.

“At the end of the day, it's in the team's hands. But man, I hope I paved the way or did enough to kinda inspire, uplift that era of the time where I was there,” George said in the latest episode of Podcast P with Paul George presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment.

Via Law Murray of The Athletic:

The 34-year old small forward also added that in addition to the Clippers, the Pacers honor him by hanging his jersey on the Fieldhouse rafters. Paul George, however, joked that he might get booed in Indianapolis all the same.

“I might be the first player to get boos [during a jersey retirement ceremony],” George said with a laugh.

Paul George, however, is certain that the Oklahoma City Thunder won't even consider him for a jersey retirement seeing as he only played in two seasons for the franchise. But whatever the case may be, it appears unlikely that George will see his jersey up in the rafters of any team he played for unless he changes the narrative of his career. This is especially true with the Clippers; while the ending of his stint in LA isn't yet set in stone, his era of basketball in Clipper land hasn't exactly met expectations.

Gauging Paul George's chances at a Pacers jersey retirement

There are still a few who hold Paul George's stint with the Pacers in high regard. After all, George blossomed into a star three years into his career and went toe-to-toe with LeBron James and the Miami Heat deep in the playoffs, playing his part well as a member of an ensemble cast that involved hard-nosed, two-way players such as David West, Lance Stephenson, George Hill, and Roy Hibbert.

George was improving in linear fashion through the first four years of his career. Alas, in 2014, George broke his leg while playing for Team USA over the summer, and he proceeded to miss 76 games of the subsequent season. The Pacers team then vastly changed around him, and for two consecutive seasons following his triumphant return from injury, they exited the playoffs in the first round.

Paul George made the All-Star team four times as a member of the Pacers, and the mere fact that he was able to return to a superstar level despite suffering a major bone injury is a big win. Alas, it's fair to wonder if George did enough in Indianapolis to warrant a jersey retirement, especially when he changed jersey numbers.

He had two middling years while wearing the number 24, but his two most successful Pacers seasons came while he was donning that number. Meanwhile, with number 13, George played much better than he ever did, but he failed to lead the Pacers deep into the playoffs during that time.

Meanwhile, the Pacers have shown no indications of immortalizing his jersey numbers. Two other players have worn the number 24 since George departed, with Alize Johnson and Buddy Hield being the players to do so. Meanwhile, three other players have donned his number 13 since, with Ike Anigbogu, Torrey Craig, and Jordan Nwora all having their turns.

George, for as good of a player as he is, is no Kobe Bryant. There is a zero percent chance that the Pacers retire both jersey numbers, but, if anything, there's a greater argument for the Pacers to retire his number 24 jersey.

Perhaps the Thunder should retire PG's number

The quality of relationship isn't about how long it lasted, now, is it? Paul George may have ruled out any chance of a jersey retirement with the Thunder, but perhaps OKC should be doing its best to immortalize George's short but eventful two-year stint with the team.

The Thunder traded for George in 2017 to give Russell Westbrook a co-star; alas, OKC failed to make it out of the first round in 2018, leading many to believe that George may have been a one-and-done rental for the Thunder. However, George said he had unfinished business in OKC and decided to re-up with the team on a four-year max contract.

We all know what happened next: the Thunder fell to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs via one of the most heartbreaking game-winners in history. And when Kawhi Leonard came calling regarding a potential team-up, Paul George asked for a trade to the Clippers and the Thunder were able to get a ton of first-round picks, as well as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for someone who could have decided to leave in free agency the year before.

George, in many ways, made it possible for the Thunder to have a current MVP candidate lead the way for them as they enter their new era of contention. The 34-year old forward spoke about wishing teams would recognize that he did pave the way, and for the Thunder, he did just that by allowing them to recoup assets for him via trade.

Justin Patton, Tony Bradley, and Ousmane Dieng may have all worn George's number 13 since he left in 2019, but perhaps the Thunder should consider retiring his jersey given how much he meant and continues to mean for the franchise.

Can he turn the narrative of his Clippers career?

When you peruse Clippers Twitter (X), you will see how much fans of the team have grown to dislike Paul George. George is being described as mentally weak and overly passive after he struggled for the majority of the 2024 NBA playoffs.

Simply put, the Clippers fanbase is growing exhausted over the disappointment surrounding the franchise since George arrived in 2019. For a quick history lesson, the Clippers have disappointed in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024; it has been three consecutive seasons where the team has failed to reach its goal after suffering injury woes to their best player(s) at the most inopportune time.

In 2020, of course, Paul George was one of the biggest culprits behind the Clippers' disappointing run in the bubble. George was shooting tour dates, although he later came out and said that he struggled mentally during the time. That was understandable, as the entire world was in lockdown during the height of COVID-19 infection.

The following year, George was turning the narrative of his Clippers tenure. He became the team's most reliable player as they came to within just two wins of a trip to the NBA Finals. Had Kawhi Leonard been healthy, there's a strong chance George's legacy in LA would be secure by now. Alas, it has been four years now that Leonard either missed the entire postseason or saw his playoff run get cut short by injury, and George's reputation has suffered with it as a result.

Now, George, who will most likely decline his player option for the 2024-25 season and enter free agency in search of one last big payday, is a legitimate flight risk. The Clippers' championship window may already be slammed shut. But if George wants his jersey to hang in an arena's rafters, he might want to tough it out with the Clippers and hope that they break through, against all odds, in the coming seasons.