INDIANAPOLIS, IN – APRIL 23: Paul George #13 and Myles Turner #33 of the Indiana Pacers react in the second half of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on April 23, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Cavaliers defeated the Pacers 106-102 to sweep the series 4-0. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using the photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Last week, Paul George’s agent told the Indiana Pacers that George planned to opt out of his contract at the end of next season and leave the only team he’s ever played for.

That, predictably, did not please Pacers president Kevin Pritchard, who said this to ESPN on Thursday:

“It couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Pritchard said at the conclusion of Thursday’s NBA draft. “If we would have known this a few months ago, I think we could have been more prepared. Becoming public was a big issue.

“We want our players to want to be here, that’s important. It really is. When Paul said he didn’t, that’s a gut punch.”

Pritchard, of course, is upset to see his franchise player jumping ship and apparently unhappy at the timing and public nature of George’s decision.

And you know what? It’s tough to must any sympathy for him or the rest of the Pacers’ brass.

Indiana has already gotten seven excellent seasons from Paul George. With George, they’ve won scores of games, made playoff runs, sold hundreds of thousands of tickets and returned to relevancy for the first time since the Malice at the Palace.

If, at any time over the past seven years, Pritchard and the Pacers had decided they didn’t want George on their team anymore, they could have traded him, cut him or declined to offer him a new contract. In other words, they could have opted out of their relationship with him, just as they do all the time with lesser players. So if George himself wants to opt out to escape a 42-40 team with exactly one other interesting player and more Lance Stephenson than any self-respecting franchise should have, that is his right. If he wants to treat his team the way teams treat players all the time, more power to him.

Paul George doesn’t owe the Pacers a thing. Kevin Pritchard should thank George for propping up his otherwise mediocre team and figure out how to move on.

[ESPN]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

1 thought on “The Indiana Pacers’ president is sad because Paul George doesn’t want to play for his mediocre team

  1. This article is written specifically to construct and subsequently combat an entirely false narrative – that the Pacer’s GM or organization are petty for being entitled to PG’s services. No comments made by anyone with the organization, including those emphasized in this article, suggested such.

    Nowhere in the above Pritchard quote was it implied that George owed it to the Pacers to stay. That’s frankly not a particularly potent or commonly expressed sentiment in the local media or at large.

    If you read all the comments made at that press conference, Pritchard was not mad at PG for leaving. Rather he was mad at PG for insinuating over several months that he was going to stay, when he had no intention of doing so. Then PG went public and damaged any leverage the Pacers may have had.

    In the context of the comparison made here, this wouldn’t be analogous to trading, cutting, or not renewing the contract of a player without notice. Instead it would be like if a player specifically asked their GM about the possibility of such a scenario, repeatedly for several months, and was falsely assured that they would absolutely receive an extension. Imagine if Pritchard was like “Lance we are going to extend you for the max next week, don’t even worry about it” and then they cut him the next day.

    Objectively nobody owes anybody anything that is not contractually obligated. But there are implicit, subjective expectations for how players, organizations, and fans are to interact with one another. Whether or not one thinks PG violated an implicit code is up to debate. Nonetheless, this article combats an entirely false narrative and it’s claims are unsubstantiated. It’s an odd choice to advance this dialogue as the Pacers lose probably the best player in their franchise history and have been relatively classy about it.

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