It is relatively common that NBA Fans boo star players who decide to leave their team when they return to their old stomping grounds as visitors. However, more often than not these stars leave their former team on bad terms. Of course, it makes sense to boo a star who demands a trade, for example, since such an action is a direct indictment of the team he left.
But not all stars leave under difficult circumstances. Sometimes the relationship between a player and a team simply runs its course. Apparently that’s what happened between Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Philadelphia 76ers offered George a four-year maximum contract in free agency. The Clippers issued a statement they all but confirmed that they did not and cited their desire for financial flexibility under the new collective bargaining agreement as a motivating factor in that decision.
However, when George arrived as a member of the 76ers on Wednesday, he inevitably received boos. While there was cheering as well, fans in Los Angeles threw a lot of negativity at their former star. At one point, the team’s “wall” section in the crowd even broke out into a “PG sucks” chant.
After the game he made it clear that he didn’t understand where the hostility was coming from. “It’s stupid,” George said. “I mean, I was a free agent. It wasn’t something where I was demanding a trade or going against the team here. I was a free agent. The team came up with something that was team-friendly, and I did what was best. for me in that situation.”
A boo should indicate some legitimate grievance between the player and the fan base. It is not clear what exactly the grievance would be here. Did fans expect George to leave tens of millions of dollars on the table to remain in Los Angeles? He he said to his side of history during the offseason. He said he never wanted to leave Los Angeles and detailed the many offers the Clippers made him. No report has yet refuted what he claimed. At one point, according to George, he was willing to accept the same three-year, $150 million contract the Clippers gave Kawhi Leonard, but asked for a no-trade clause to ensure he wouldn’t be forced out of Los Angeles. . The Clippers refused to give it to him, effectively suggesting that he could position himself as a future trade chip like Blake Griffin once was. His decision to leave, in light of everything we know after the fact, was completely reasonable.
As George acknowledged, some fans cheered him on. That would be the appropriate response considering he led them to the best season in team history. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined during a second-round series against the Utah Jazz in 2021, George led the Clippers to their last two wins of the series and their first trip to the Western Conference Finals. He’s largely forgotten, but George was a handful of plays away from leading the Clippers to the Finals. NBA Finals. Phoenix won that series 4-2, but needed a Deandre Ayton alley-oop to win Game 2 and only won Game 4 by four points. This was the best playoff run in team history, and George was the only All-Star present.
There may still be some resentment over the huge price the Clippers paid to get George, but it’s not fair to blame him for that. It was the Clippers who ultimately chose to give up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five first-round picks and two first-round trades to acquire him, and they did so under Leonard’s direction. Leonard could have come to Los Angeles without George, allowing the Clippers to keep everything they traded. Does that mean he deserves to be booed too?
There is nothing wrong with the act of booing itself. Just make sure you save it for the players who deserve it. Otherwise it loses all meaning. Not all players who leave a team deserve to be booed. George is an obvious example of someone who didn’t.
