Paul George has been the latest NBA star to name his all-time starting lineup. This has been a recurrent practice among current and former NBA players but George changed things a little bit with his list.
PG is a quiet man, but whenever he talks, he knows how to get attention. He joined Adrian Wojnarowski as part of ESPN’s #oneteam Speaker Series to discuss several topics.
It’s been common to see players revealing their picks for the GOAT debate or just naming their all-time starting five. George was tasked to name what five players would compose his lineup and he surprised when he picked the late Kobe Bryant over Michael Jordan.
“I would have Bron [LeBron James] at the point, Kobe [Bryant] at the two,” started George, who was then questioned by Woj as to how he intended to squeeze in Jordan in his lineup. “Yeah, I know Michael is the best, but I grew up on Kobe, so I would put Kobe at the two.”
“My three, I would put Larry [Bird] at my three,” George continued. “At my four I will put KG [Kevin Garnett]. And my five I will put Shaq [O’Neal].”
He stopped to explain that he grew up watching Kobe, so it was a no brainer for him to select the Mamba ahead of MJ. The rest of the lineup is filled by other players that he grew up watching or played against. Other than Larry Bird and Shaq, George faced LeBron, Kobe, and Garnett.
We’ve seen a variety of lineups in recent weeks, but even though when somebody picked Kobe, they sneaked Jordan in the lineup as the small forward. Well, not for PG-13.
George and his Clippers are waiting for the NBA to announce the date when the 2019/20 resumes. He was on a mission with Kawhi Leonard this season, trying to take the Clippers to clinch their first-ever NBA title. We’ll see if they can win once the season restarts.
