Let me throw a stat line at you for a currently unnamed player: 19 points, six rebounds, three assists on 37 percent from the field and 27 percent from three. Now imagine that this player has not made it out of the first round since 2014 and gave up an epic series-ending three last year. Now, imaging that this player gave themself the nickname playoff P and that player was the Clippers’ Paul George, who has the previously mentioned stat line through five games of this years first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks.
It is safe to say that the internet has been unkind to George, who had stunk up the series until his 35 point performance last night. George addressed his struggles and the reasons behind it in his postgame comments. “The bubble got the best of me,” George said. “I was just in a dark place. I really wasn’t here, I checked out. These past couple of games, it was just difficult. But shoutout to the people that stood behind me, that were in my corner. The positivity of my teammates, my family, my friends, everybody. Thanks everybody that reached out to me. I was just in a bad place. But I found my way. I’m back, and I look forward to the rest of this run.”
While I sympathize with George and his struggles, if he is already struggling this badly in month one of a three-month playoff that the Clippers are likely to make a deep run in, then things are not looking good for George. “I underestimated mental health,” he added to reporters after the game. “Anxiety, a little bit of depression. Games 2, 3, 4 I felt like I wasn’t there.” Hopefully, George can get himself right and take advantage of the time of the between series if they beat the Mavericks and get himself right before the Clippers find themselves in a situation where they need him.
