NBA veteran Paul George has yet to win a championship in his career, and he blames LeBron James as a major reason why. In a segment on the ‘Pivot Podcast,’ George made the case for his championship odds in the Eastern Conference without King James.
“I’m thinking about it the other day, like, had there not been a LeBron James, sh*t Imight have had one,” said George. “Had we not played LeBron James, or there was no LeBron James, we might have had one in Indiana. I felt like the guy in the East. We played Carmelo, got Carmelo out of there. Played a tough Wizards team with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Nobody could come through us. Atlanta was a tough team.”
It’s no secret that LeBron James was the biggest obstacle for George’s Pacers teams. From 2010 to 2018, James had an iron grip over the rest of the Eastern Conference, making eight straight Finals appearances to win three championships.
For George and the Indiana Pacers, James’ teams were always their kryptonite, dating back to his days in Miami. With LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, the Heat were considered a superteam in the “big three” era, and no team in the East stood a chance against them.
The first time that George and James clashed in the postseason was back in 2012. PG was in his early 20s at the time, and there was little he could do as LeBron and his newly formed “big three” beat them down in six games in the second round. Of course, it was just the first of many battles to come.
The Pacers’ greatest effort against King James came in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, when the series went seven games. Neither team won two games in a row, and Paul George was a problem for Miami with averages of 19.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game on 47.5% shooting. In the end, however, the Heat still won Game 7 and went on to win their second-straight championship.
The two teams matched up again in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals. This time, despite Paul George playing a more prominent role in the offense, the Pacers were only able to win two games before ultimately losing the series.
The last time that George faced LeBron as a member of the Pacers was a few months before his departure, in the 2017 playoffs. James, now a member of the Cavaliers, torched the Pacers with a scoring average of 32.8 points per game to lead his team to a 4-0 series sweep.
To George’s credit, LeBron James was the only consistent obstacle for his old Pacers teams. Had James not been around, or not been matched up against Indiana, George might have led them to the NBA championship. With veterans like Roy Hibbert, Lance Stephenson, and David West, they were among the best defenders in the league and the only team in the East equipped to handle the Miami Heat’s “big three.”
Of course, to win the championship, the Pacers would have had to defeat a team in the West, but odds would not have been great against the Spurs, Thunder, and Warriors in the Finals. Sadly, we’ll never get the chance to find out for sure how it would have played out, but PG is not alone in his experience.
Over the years, LeBron has cost many players their chance at a championship, and his success likely prevented several organizations from achieving their goals. Paul George is arguably one of LeBron’s biggest victims, but there’s still time for him to win before it’s all said and done.
