Paul George gazed over the heads of a large media scrum and around the Stan Sheriff Center, envisioning himself a decade younger hoisting shots in the same spot he’d just done so.
The arena floor, basket stanchions, overhead video displays and much else had changed. But George, a former up-and-comer with Hawaii’s old WAC rival Fresno State, distinctly remembered something about the place.
“Losing. Losing here. We always had tough games in this arena,” the Los Angeles Clippers superstar replied with a slight smile after Tuesday’s opening practice of training camp in Honolulu.
George capped the practice by getting some buckets at the Ewa end of the Sheriff court.
The All-NBA first-teamer, who launched a series of rainbow 3-pointers and made more than a few, offered a tantalizing glimpse at his abilities as well as a throwback to a decade ago — the last time he played here.
“Plenty of buckets in this arena,” recalled George.
Unfortunately for local basketball fans, they’ll be waiting a bit longer for him to make a return to a court during a game, preseason or otherwise. George will sit out the Clippers’ two exhibitions in the Clippers Hawaii Classic this week as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, including Thursday’s sold-out matchup with the Houston Rockets. His new superstar running mate, Kawhi Leonard, and the Rockets’ Russell Westbrook are expected to do likewise.
George’s participation Tuesday was limited to 5-on-0 offensive drills and post-practice shooting.
In the late 2000s, the lanky George was a tantalizing if unproven talent. He was recruited to Fresno in 2008 in large part by Senque Carey, who would later become a UH assistant for a season (2014-15).
A 6-foot-9 forward with a coach’s dream combination of shooting and defensive prowess, George played two seasons in Fresno before declaring for the NBA. He averaged 14.3 points as a freshman and 16.8 as a sophomore, roughly his output in four career games against Bob Nash’s UH teams.
George scored 13 points on 3-for-13 shooting in his lone career game in the Sheriff on Feb. 5, 2009, a 69-43 win by the Rainbow Warriors. The next year, he had a sprained ankle during the Bulldogs’ trip to the islands and did not play when they won by 10.
Despite that, he said he had a fondness for the place.
“I like this kind of arena where it feels like the crowd is on top of you,” George said. “And they had a pretty good fan base, for the most part, when we played here. So, it was always good playing here, coming over from across the water. You know, feeling like you’re on vacay but still get to play in an environment like this.”
On the subject of college environments, George joined other prominent NBA players like LeBron James in weighing in on California’s recent passage of a law allowing college athletes to receive endorsement deals and compensation for the usage of their likenesses.
“Shout-out to Cali for getting it. College kids should get compensated for their likeness. They’re semi-pros,” George said. “They should get paid for it, what they do for the school. I know they get education, but I don’t think that’s necessarily enough for kids that are struggling to get by in college.”
After his sophomore season, the NBA came calling and he was in no position to turn it down. He was taken by the Indiana Pacers with the 10th pick in the 2010 draft and has become a six-time all-star in his nine pro seasons. As an indicator of how much his game has grown, he averaged a career-high 28.0 points with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season at age 28.
He helped them to the Western Conference playoffs first round, but then demanded an offseason trade. The Clippers dealt a series of draft picks to the Thunder to secure him just as they acquired Leonard in July.
