Paul George

Lore & Background

When the Pacers selected Paul George in the 2010 draft, the fanbase in Indianapolis was still nursing the wounds of the 2010 playoffs and searching for a new identity. What they got was a lanky, electric scorer out of Fresno State who could guard four positions, finish through contact, and make the kind of highlight-reel plays that turned a Tuesday-night game into a standing ovation. In his first two seasons he was the clear best player on the team, and the organization built around him with the conviction of a small market that had found its franchise cornerstone. The 2010–11 season crystallized everything. With David West anchoring the paint and Roy Hibbert developing into a rim-protector, the Pacers became a team that could out-rebound, out-shoot, and out-defend virtually anyone in the East. The playoff run that spring—surviving the Celtics, dispatching the Magic, and knocking off LeBron James' Heat before falling short in the Conference Finals—gave the fanbase a shared story of almost-reach that still echoes in every season since. George was the engine of that run: the player who took over fourth quarters, who drained the shots that kept Indiana alive, and who made the opposing coaches' eyes widen when they saw him on the other end. The years that followed saw the Pacers solidify as a top-4 Eastern seed, with George earning All-NBA and All-Defensive recognition and becoming one of the league's most complete two-way wings. The era ended not with a whimper but with a transaction: in the summer of 2017, George was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers. For the Pacers, it was the end of the era that defined their identity in the 2010s. For the fanbase, it left a permanent benchmark—the standard against which every subsequent wing, every playoff push, and every 'what if' is measured.

In Their Own Story

The arena is humming at a frequency that vibrates in your sternum. You can see the ball bounce off the floor, see the silhouette of #13 rise above the inbound pass, hang in the air a half-second longer than physics should allow, and then the swish is almost an afterthought. The crowd detonates. You feel it in your chest before you hear it. Around you, strangers are hugging, a kid in the seat in front of you is screaming his father's name, and the black-and-gold sea is a single, breathing organism. For four seconds, the rest of the league doesn't exist. There is only this court, this shot, this city that refused to be small.

Reader's Guide

#13. 2010 to 2017. Seven years in the black-and-gold. The moment that still lives in the bones of every Pacers fan: 2011, Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game 6 against the Heat. Indiana is down, the clock is bleeding, and the whole building is on its feet in a way that makes the floor feel like it's tilting. Paul George takes the ball, drives through a wall of defenders, and finishes with that quiet, almost casual confidence that made opposing teams look like they were playing a different sport. The shot goes in. The arena loses its mind. That's not a highlight reel moment—that's the moment you tell your kid about at the kitchen table and say, 'That's what we were. That's what this city was when 13 had the ball.'

Signature marks of the era: the 2011 run to the Eastern Conference Finals as a 7-seed; consecutive All-NBA and All-Defensive selections that made Indiana a two-way powerhouse; and the simple, undeniable fact that for seven seasons, the best player on the roster was wearing black and gold and calling Indianapolis home. When the name comes up at a Pacers watch party, the room goes quiet for a beat, and someone says: 'Yeah. We were good. And he was the reason.'

Did You Know?

• Paul George was selected 8th overall by the Pacers in the 2010 NBA Draft out of Fresno State, and within two seasons he was the undisputed face of the franchise.
• The 2010–11 Pacers, led by George, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals as a lower seed—a playoff run that remains the high-water mark of the modern Pacers era.
• George's versatility allowed him to guard multiple positions, which was central to the Pacers' identity as a top-tier defensive team during his tenure in Indiana.
• His departure to the Clippers in the 2017 offseason marked the end of the era and reshaped the Pacers' roster philosophy for the following decade.