INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Paul George heard about it in his return to Los Angeles on Wednesday night for the first time since leaving the Clippers last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Fans booed George when he was introduced at Intuit Dome, the Clippers’ new arena that seats 18,000 but drew announced attendance of 15,627. They got vocal each time he touched the ball throughout the game. Early on, he responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers.
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“Boo him tonight and love him afterwards,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game.
George had 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting and seven rebounds in 24 minutes in the 110-98 loss. The Sixers fell to 1-6.
“He was getting a lot of attention, lots of double-teams,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “He had some good buckets and played some pretty good defense at times as well, but again, he's still working his way back conditioning-wise.”
George was playing just his second game of the season after a left knee injury kept him out. He scored 15 points in 32 minutes of the Sixers' 118-116 loss at Phoenix on Monday.
“They’re throwing a lot of stuff at me that I’m quite not ready for at this moment because I’m still just trying to get back healthy,” George said. “I'll be better. I’ll put the work in but it is a rough patch.”
Late in the first quarter, the Clippers played a George tribute video on the giant halo board above the court. He waved to acknowledge the polite applause.
“Any time I tried to lock in and get prepared I look over and see someone I knew,” he said. “Instantly it took me out of that mindset of getting prepared and then I tried to lock back in and there’s another person.”
In five seasons with the Clippers, the native of nearby Palmdale helped them to their first-ever Western Conference Finals appearance, but they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs the last two years.
“He's a special talent,” Lue said.
George opted out of his player option in his $48 million contract with the Clippers to become a free agent and was wooed to Philly to play with Joel Embiid.
“It’s stupid,” George said of the booing. “I was a free agent. It wasn’t something that I demanded a trade or went against the team here. I did what was best for me in that situation.”
The Clippers are 4-4 to open the season, hardly the kind of start they want to help attract fans to their new building.
“I wish it would’ve been a little more packed out,” George said. “This thing is amazing, what (owner Steve) Ballmer did and his vision. It is the best arena to play in.”
The Wall, a seating section limited to diehard Clippers fans located near the visiting bench, weighed in on George, too.
“I think I won The Wall,” he said. “They got to do a little bit better.”
Another fan held up a sign reading “Paul G, Please Come Back.” The Clippers are without Kahwi Leonard, who has yet to play this season while nursing his surgically repaired right knee — again. Besides George, they also lost Russell Westbrook from their Big Four that is now down to Leonard and James Harden.
“There ain’t no bad blood. I talked to those guys throughout the whole process,” George said. “Regardless if we’re teammates or not, those are lifelong bonds that you build. Whatever happens in basketball kind of doesn’t affect that relationship.”
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