An NBA Timeline of Paul George: From Potential to "Paul Star"

First and foremost let me congratulate Indiana Pacers SG/SF Paul George, the youngest Pacers All-Star in franchise history, on his most deserving selection to the 2013 NBA All-Star Team.  

With that, here are the moments leading up to the selection:

Paul George playing for the Knights

May 2, 1990 (Birth): Paul George is born to Paul and Paulette George, in Paul-mdale, CA. (Okay, its spelled Palmdale, but this guy has got more "Paul" in his life than Paul Newman hanging out with Paul McCartney, watching "Mad About You" re-runs while listening to "Graceland" whilst a colonial horseman warns them of an oncoming British invasion. Also, I looked up where Palmdale is in relation to Riverside, CA, the birthplace of Reggie Miller, and it's only a mere 50 minutes away. God Bless Southern California.)

August 2004 - June 2008 (High School Career): Paul attends Pete Knight High School in Palmdale, wearing the number 24, earning the nickname "2much4u," and continues to don the number and live up to the nickname.  In his senior season, George manages to average 25 PPG, 12 RPG, 3 APG, and 3 SPG, showcasing the well roundedness that would bless his early NBA career. (Wonder who Pete Knight was? He famously broke the world speed record for a manned aircraft managing to travel at 4,520 mph which still stands as the world record today. He also wrote the proposition to ban gay marriage in California. Making him as fast as Eddie Lacy and the sworn enemy of Lennay Kekua or whatever his name is.)

PG flew onto the scene at Fresno St.

April 14, 2008 (College Commitment): Paul George commits to Fresno State after receiving offers to San Diego State and Penn State, in hopes to become an immediate starter, stating "I knew whatever team I went to I’d make the most out of it. I didn’t want to go to a bigger school just for the simple fact that I wanted to be an impact guy immediately. I wanted to learn from mistakes by playing as a freshman. That’s why I went to Fresno. I think the coaches had an idea of what they were getting." (He later added, "… the football coaching staff at PSU gave me a really weird vibe in the locker room. That made a big impact on my decision.") 

Nov. 18, 2008 (St. Mary's Domination): Paul George has an amazing breakout performance against St. Mary's in the second game of the season as a freshman, where he records his first college double-double (25 points, 10 boards), and throws down "this dunk" to get the number 1 spot on SportsCenter's top 10. (Haven't seen this sort of drubbing of the Catholics since the Protestant Reformation … I take that back; my short term memory left out this year's BCS National Championship Game.)

June 6, 2010 (Pre-Draft Workouts): After having a successful first two years at Fresno State, (averaging 15.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 2.4 APG, 2 SPG, 1 BPG, and shooting 45% from the field and 40% from three), George impresses in the NBA workouts telling DraftExpress.com, “Once I get that chance to really get that experience and learn about the game, I think my ceiling is pretty high.”

Paul shakes David Stern's hand after getting drafted

June 24, 2010 (NBA Draft): George is taken tenth overall by the Indiana Pacers. GM Larry Bird comments on his choice, "He's got a lot of skill, length, shooting ability … obviously, he can defend … I hope." (One of my favorite stories from the draft was when asked what his first purchase would be after his contract signing, he responded, "I'm not really a guy that's into material things, anything I buy will go directly to my parents … I'm not really flashy." That coming from the guy who literally wore a glow-in-the-dark suit in a dunk contest.)

July 1, 2010 (Signing Day): Signs 2-year (with team option), $3.9 million rookie contract. (His parents just got real rich.)

George defends Derrick Rose

April 16, 2011 (Return to the Playoffs): In his first season, Paul George eventually becomes a starter while averaging a modest 7.8 PPG and helps break a four-year playoff drought for the Pacers. His reward? He gets the task of guarding league MVP Derrick Rose in the opening series. George struggled offensively in the playoffs (6 PPG, shooting 30% from field), and though the Pacers made almost every game competitive, they eventually fell to the Bulls 4-1. (I would love to credit PG for turning them around and making the playoffs, but most of it has to go to Larry Legend for finally firing Jim O'Brien, leading to my life motto: "When in doubt, fire Jim O'Brien.")

May 11, 2011 (All-Rookie Second Team): Though he received the fewest amount of votes (12) in the voting for the All-Rookie squad, Paul manages to collect his first NBA Individual Award. (I'm sure Paul was a bit sour after barely edging his way onto the team, but I would hope the fact that he has been the only player in the All-Star conversation every year since, other than Blake Griffin, has to give him confidence and something to be extremely proud of.)

PG pulls of the Vince Carter

Feb. 24, 2012 (Rising Stars Challenge): Midway through his sophomore season, Paul is selected fourth overall to "Team Chuck" in the annual BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, where the NBA's best rookies and sophomores play an exhibition.  Paul ended up with 23 points and a handful of memorable plays, only to be outdone by teammate Kyrie Irving, who went 8-for-8 from behind the arc. (Anyone who watched this game live will remember a couple of things. First, Kyrie Irving was just nuts, pulling up and knocking LITERALLY everything from downtown. Second, Paul George's top-five dunk of the night, a tribute to Vince Carter's elbow in the rim dunk except in the actual play of the game, that TNT's crew didn't even mention in the broadcast because they were doing a sideline report with Craig Sager. And, finally, … I miss John Wall. Just watch these dunks (1, 2), and you'll know why.)

George flies over Roy Hibbert

Feb. 25, 2012 (Dunk Contest): Paul George takes the stage at the NBA Dunk Contest along with fellow participants Derrick Williams, Chase Budinger and Jeremy Evans. In an attempt to appease fans, the NBA incorporates a fan-vote system in which they single-handedly destroyed everything I love about All-Star Weekend. (For those of you who missed the worst dunk contest results in history, I'll give you a brief description: Derrick Williams did his best impression his own NBA career by being completely irrelevant and forgotten, Chase Budinger took his token white card and did a "White Men Can't Jump" homage, except failed to capture the final scene of the movie where Woody Harrelson actually has a spectacular dunk, and then Jeremy Evans, the eventual champion, well, I can't even describe how underwhelming it was. Oh yeah, PG only jumped over a 7'2" center, slapped a sticker of Larry Bird's face to a backboard while going up and under with a reverse, and threw down a 360 windmill in a blacked out stadium wearing a glow-in-the-dark jersey. What have we become as a nation?)

Sept. 25, 2012 (G2 Zone): After its first year of experimentation in the 2011-2012 season, Paul George and George Hill reform the "G2 Zone" handing out a number of free season tickets to those who can pass an audition in front of the Pacer's backcourt. (Kramer and I got to do the audition after being a part of the G2 Zone and Area 55 for the playoffs the prior season and relished our opportunity. You were given 27 seconds to perform, and we decided to do a rap, which was a terrible decision. To make a long story short, I forgot the words halfway through, and so began the most embarrassing moment of my life.)

Paul George dunks over Joakim Noah

Nov. 21, 2012 (Franchise Shooting): Paul George breaks Reggie Miller's (second all-time in NBA history with three-pointers made) Pacers franchise record for three-pointers made in a single game with a 9-of-13 effort from behind the arc in an amazing performance against the Hornets. (Out of curiosity I wanted to see how many 3's Shaq made in his whole career. Turns out he hit 1 three-pointer in 20 seasons, and strangely enough, that's also how many free throws he made as well.)

Dec. 4, 2012 (The Turning Point): After going a miserable 0-7 from the field and not even getting an attempt at the charity stripe, Paul goes completely scoreless against Golden State.  In the next matchup, against the divisional rival Chicago Bulls, he put up a fantastic 34-point performance on 14-of-25 shooting, and added on 9 rebounds and 3 steals to lead the Pacers to an 80 - 76 victory. In his 25 games since going scoreless at Golden State, he's averaged 19.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 3.9 APG and become the player the Pacers need in the absence of Danny Granger.

Jan. 24, 2013 (First All-Star Appearance): In only his third season, Paul George is selected as an All-Star reserve for the 2013 All-Star game. Though his popularity has still not peaked, George doesn't seem to mind and continues to be one of the best "all-around" players in the league: averaging 17.3 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 7.8 RPG with a PER of 17.46 (all increases from his sophomore season). On top of his offensive statistics, many consider him one of the top defenders in the league and, along with teammate and 2012 all-star Roy Hibbert, one of the foundations of the number-one ranked defense in the league.

"The following game is rated PG24,

For steals, blocks, dunks, man and so much more.

We got half of the Beatles starting in our back court,

Ain't got John and Ringo, but we got Paul and George

George Hill reppin' Ooi-Pooie

PG jumps so high it's like there's flubber on his shooie,

G2 Zone with 2 future all-stars,

shining so bright it's like they glow in the dark."

So, even if I remembered the lyrics it was probably really terrible anyway, but at least I was right about the All-Star thing! Here's to hoping for many more for Paul George in the future.


What's your favorite Paul George moment? Anything you would have added to the timeline? Let us know in the comments below.