It is relatively common for NBA fans to boo star players who choose to leave their team when they arrive again at their old stomping grounds as visitors. Most of the time, though, such stars left their former team on bad terms. Of course, it makes sense to boo a star who demanded a trade, for instance, as such an action is a direct indictment of the team he left.
But not every star leaves under acrimonious circumstances. Sometimes, a relationship between a player and a team simply runs its course. That is seemingly what happened between the Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Philadelphia 76ers offered George a four-year max contract in free agency. The Clippers released a statement all but confirming that they did not and cited their desire for financial flexibility under the new CBA as a motivating factor in that decision.
Yet when George arrived as a member of the 76ers on Wednesday, George inevitably received boos. While there were cheers as well, the fans in Los Angeles showered plenty of negativity onto their former star. At one point, the team’s vaunted “wall” section in the crowd even broke into a “PG sucks” chant.
After the game, he made it clear that he didn’t understand where the hostility was coming from. “It’s stupid,” George said. “I mean I was a free agent. It wasn’t something where I demanded a trade or went against the team here. Like, I was a free agent. The team presented something that was team-friendly, and I did what was best for me in that situation.”
A boo should indicate some legitimate grievance between the player and the fan base. It’s not clear what exactly the grievance here would be. Did fans expect George to leave tens of millions of dollars on the table to remain in Los Angeles? He told his side of the story during the offseason. He said that he never wanted to leave Los Angeles and detailed the many offers the Clippers made him. No reporting has yet refuted what he claimed. At one point, according to George, he was willing to take the same three-year, $150 million deal the Clippers gave to Kawhi Leonard, but he asked for a no-trade clause to ensure he couldn’t be forced to leave Los Angeles. The Clippers declined to give it to him, effectively suggesting that he could be positioned as a future trade chip as Blake Griffin once was. His decision to leave, in light of all we know after the fact, was entirely reasonable.
As George acknowledged, some fans cheered him. That would be the appropriate response considering he led them to the best season in team history. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined during a second-round series against the Utah Jazz in 2021, George led the Clippers to their last two wins of the series and their first-ever trip to the Western Conference finals. It has largely been forgotten, but George came a handful of plays away from getting the Clippers to the NBA Finals. Phoenix won that series 4-2, but needed a buzzer-beating alley-oop inbound to Deandre Ayton to win Game 2 and only won Game 4 by four points. This was the best playoff run in team history, and George was the only All-Star present for it.
Perhaps there is some lingering bad blood from the enormous price the Clippers paid to land George, but it’s hardly fair to blame him for that. It was the Clippers that ultimately elected to give up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five first-round picks and two first-round swaps to get him, and they did so at Leonard’s direction. Leonard could have come to Los Angeles without George, allowing the Clippers to keep everything they traded. Does that mean that he deserves to get booed as well?
There is nothing wrong with the act of booing in itself. Just make sure to save it for players who deserve it. Otherwise, it loses all meaning. Not every player that leaves a team deserves to be booed. George is an obvious example of one who did not.