The prospect of Paul George potentially having his jersey retired by the Indiana Pacers is still rather feint to the Oklahoma City Thunder forward, not fully knowing if he is deserving of the honor after playing his first seven seasons with the team.
“Ah, if they do it’ll be 30 years from now,” said George, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I’m not sure,” George continued. “And quite frankly, I’m not sure if I’ve done enough to have a jersey hung here. But that’s not in my hands.”
How come?
“Well, I’m stacked up against a lot of greats. Again, what Reggie did here and the 18-plus years of excellence, that’s the last guy to do it, so that’s big shoes that I would’ve filled… I would love to (have the jersey retired), because I can’t say I would’ve made it to where I’m at if it wasn’t for this opportunity here and the chance I got to be Paul George here. So we’ll see.”
Stacking himself against a Pacers lifer is a rather tall comparison, though franchises have been a bit more relaxed in terms of retiring jerseys in today's era than ever before, especially in terms of timing.
A clear case is the immediate retirement of Chris Bosh's jersey after he officially announced that he would no longer be pursuing a comeback from his health issues. Bosh did help the franchise to two championships and four NBA Finals trips, though, which separates him from George's accomplishments.
George will always be a part of the Pacers' history, but only time will tell if the organization considers him worthy of hanging from the rafters, whenever that may be.
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