The Story of Paul George – Original Documentary

The Story of Paul George – Original Documentary

From his early days in Palmdale California to becoming a household name in the NBA Paul George’s Journey has been nothing short of extraordinary I came from nothing I’ve always been in the shadow Indiana definitely takes the credit for who I am that’s when I knew like all right I’m

Here Paul George suffering a lower leg injury will I ever play again I’ve grown so much as a player and as a person it’s point my career it’s only one thing I’m after through unexpected highs and unfortunate lows this is the story of how an overlooked kid became an NBA

Superstar Paul George was born on May 2nd 1990 and he was the only son of Paul Senior and Paulette he grew up on the outskirts of Los Angeles in Palmdale California George spent most of his free time playing basketball at the park or one on-one against his older sister

Tiosa what was your mom like growing up my mom was everything I remember she would walk me to school in the mornings um I was like her sidekick for a very long time but in 1996 when Paul was 6 years old his family was changed Forever at 36 Paul’s mother suffered a

Severe stroke the result of a blood clot that cut off oxygen to her brain you were at the house when it happened what did you remember about that I was outside I was working on my craft working on my game playing basketball in the front yard and I remember seeing

Seeing the bright lights and that was the ambulance and then I remember him taking my mom out I had to have my dad break down what was going on my mom was pronounced dead twice and she was almost at like a vegetated state she was unrecognizable she had to do constant

Therapy to remember how to talk to get her vision back to learn how to walk learn how to be independent it was a long process for her she’s strong that’s where I get my Paul found relief in the only thing he knew at the time basketball I think in uh in middle

School I was playing point and I was by far everywhere we played I was the tallest kid playing the point guard and I I knew then I I’m different from what all these kids are you know and that just came from me watching T-Mac watching Cod big guards they was

Inspiring me that’s kind of when when I knew you know I got a chance at this what was the overall factor that made you decide to go to Fresno State uh it was basically me just being a family first uh kid and my parents was super supportive they literally went to every

Game so it was basically making it easier on them that they can catch all the games they want to like man if I can make it here let’s do it I was just so close to the teammates and the guys that I had on that team that I felt like we

Haven’t accomplished what we could have man honestly uh I I kept improving each year you know the game was getting really easy at that point and I knew you know once I put out a Good Year my sophomore year I had a chance to really

Make it to this next level and you know so here I am now in 2010 George announced that he would forego his final two seasons of college eligibility at Fresno State and enter the NBA draft the Indiana Pacers select Paul George of Fresno State University however his rookie season

Stats were just okay he didn’t blow anyone away but he’s shown a lot of potential rookie year so we in the locker room and I tell him like give me two three years I’m going be an Allstar and this was just the beginning for PG-13 by his third season PG became the

Go-to guy for the Pacers posting career high numbers and winning the NBA most improved player award and so when I won it like it was like all right like there’s no going back from here I like literally put a lot of work in I put a

Ton of work in that summer just working on my body working on my game trying to be more efficient from behind the three-point line Indiana definitely takes the credit for who I am as a player became man there I became a superstar there in less than three short

Years Paul Georgia the Pacers has become the face of that franchise firsttime Allstar getting it done in the playoffs he helped lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals in backto back Seasons it is on to game one of the Eastern Conference Final series of Indiana Pacers taking on the defending NBA

Champion Miami Heath I knew going into this series was going to be a lot of pressure on me but just continue to keep adding pressure only makes me want to continue to keep performing 5 Seconds balls deflect it away West Geor Fires for the tie he’s got it Geor with

A threo at a tie of the game that’s when I knew like all right I’m here my team is counting on me to make those plays and you know my team really needs me to make those plays it’s really me wanting that moment trying to Relish in that

Moment Here Comes George got the step and move and CCH on the and then Brian leaned over and told me you know that was that was a big boy play he understands that I’m not going back down we’re just two guys is just trying to do

What it takes to help our team win he’s really good he’s going to be a great one just him knowing you know I’m around that corner um you know that was that was enough for me all of that stuff all the recognition now it’s great obviously

You know I love being in the spotlight but it’s nowhere close to where I want to be so I guess the world just got to continue to keep waiting to get the polished Paul George in 2014 everything seemed to go in the right direction until the infamous Team USA scrimmage a

Block attempt on James hard ‘s dunk turned his entire career into a nightmare Paul George Paul George shaken up Paul went crashing into the base of a basket stanson and broke his leg it was one of the most gut-wrenching injuries in the history of the NBA Paul George suffering

A serious lower leg injury and we’re going to take a break and come back right after this it left players on the court in disbelief and millions of fans speechless my heart just dropped I don’t know if I’ve seen an injury that gruesome to anyone with my own eyes let

Alone somebody I was so close to you don’t know how or if someone can come back from an injury like that they put me on a cart rolled me out my Mom jumped on there went a struck with me I needed that honestly um I was in so much pain I

Was in so much disbelief remember the whole time she was just telling me you’re going to be okay son you come out strong if my mom could get through what she got through then this should be a cakewalk Paul George underwent a successful surgery for the fracture the

Very same day doing good probably about 2 or 3 weeks in it was just hard to move around so literally I would be in one room for about 12 to 13 hours I had to depend on pretty much everybody at that point you know what you can do and what

You can’t do and the biggest part about it is is just conquering everything with your mind I know it’s going to be stuff it’s going to be days where it’s going to be hard for me and tough for me I mean I’m looking forward to those days

First it was just so much emotion involved because I’m at the height of my career I got a chance to play for my country just finished playing against Bron and I and I felt like one more year and I’m I like I I truly felt like it

Was my time I had some bad days where I used to just be like man what what why are we doing this my my broke like just let it heal and we can do this rehab later like just let it Hill first I would be like out of breath to go from

Downstairs to upstairs by the time I got upstairs I was dizzy and it was just like man I didn’t I I just wanted to be shut off from the world like nobody reach out to me nobody talk to me nobody message me like I don’t want to do

Treatment I don’t want to rehab like I remember telling the trainer some days like man just leave me alone like let this thing heal and when it heals then we can start rehabing like every day like was the same day it was just tedious tedious work like literally

Doing the same thing for a month same schedule and it just became like I was a robot like I was just checking out like it it just became boring doing this stuff but thank God them trainers was like they knew what they were doing they

They knew that in order for that bone to heal it had to take some contact it had to take some pressure when he was hurt he was laying on the bed and said Dad when I come back I’m going come back up Beast I really believe everything does

Happen for a reasons so there wasn’t no disappointment of you know why this injury happened it was just something that I knew that was going to be a part of my story this was the old me now this is the new me and I think it’s a rebirth I will be

Back many thought that PG would be sidelined for the year but hard work paid off here’s Paul George his first shot it’s good he just got to threw that one at The Rim in his first game back he put up 13 points two rebounds and two assists showing everyone that he’s not done

Yet Paul George not only came back he got even better during the 2015 season he shattered expectations and silenced the haters he came back to his old self averaging 23.1 points per game I was going to put the work in and I was going to come back better the only thing that

Hurt in that moment was the window that was closed you could just see it on D West face you can see on Roy face G hill face like it wasn’t even about me anymore I felt like the life was sucked out of Indiana when the guys were

Getting ready for training camp it was almost like what like what are we doing this for like why are we here that was the end of an era after that injury right before he got injured they had traded Danny Granger David West left and then Roy Hibbert left and Lance

Stevenson left so his first year back it was just George Hill and Paul the Indiana pce Journey with PG-13 was about to take an unexpected turn Allstar Weekend in New Orleans I had the front office meet me in New Orleans chop it up with them like my agent come down like

What is these trade talks like am I am am I your guy or am I not like let me know so they like nah we not moving you we not touching you like you know you our future like you’re our our centerpiece like so they telling me all

The good stuff so I had a phone call with them that night and mind you I had at the time the best power forward saying he wanted to come to Indie and team up with me it was ad he wanted to come I bring it to the front office they

Like we can’t do it we a small Market we can’t afford that I’m like the best power forward wants to come play here like y’all can’t make that work they didn’t want to do it now I’m pissed cuz it’s like what what am I doing here literally right before trade deadline my

Agent get calls again like yo PG’s on like they saying PG’s on the markets teams like asking about them and they’re having conversations so all that was like strike ones and twos and now when I hear my name in trade talks that strike three now I’m like man especially after

You tell me we good right we just had a we just had a lunch about this you don’t want to be a part of uh something that you don’t feel a part of after the 2017 playoffs George said that he wouldn’t resign with the Pacers so I call my

Agent like man what am I doing here I call my agent like man get me up out of here they don’t want to win the rumor swirled about Paul’s preferred destinations at he wanted to come back to his roots in Los Angeles the dream when I got drafted there was to be a

Pacer my whole career but things didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to and hoped it would have rumors started that the Cav Celtics Clippers Wizards Rockets all pursuing deals for Paul George is what a lot of people in the IND in Indianapolis are doing right now they’re

Looking at the Indianapolis Star the paper and thunderstuck is the big headline nobody heard Oklahoma at all thinking to make a trade for me however George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder forming a formidable duo with Russell Westbrook I was really excited about playing alongside Russ two fiery

All stars on the same team something special’s got to happen I give Sam presty a tremendous amount of credit to be a year removed from losing Kevin Durant to try to get Paul George to come play with Russell Westbrook and build this thing in Oklahoma City you know

Here they have made a huge risk in trading for me knowing I had one year on my deal we figured out what everyone knew um this is a special team we have special players and special abilities you had to become a little bit of a different player learning how to play

Off the ball learning how to space learning how to run the floor better learning how to be a better Defender take on that challenge on a nightly basis of guard and best offensive weapons so coming into this league you know I wanted to be the defensive player

Of the year and be acknowledged for it now it’s been an adjustment but I I think it’s all going to make for you know and improve uh you know Paul George I think George drives and finishes this is what the Thunder do better than anybody in the league while he still wanted to

Return to Southern California George also decided that he would stay with the Thunder and never arranged a meeting with the Lakers Paul George has committed to the Thunder uh he will be back next year he then resigned a massive 4-year $137 million contract which again proved all his doubters

Wrong I obviously would have loved to go home that was ideal when it when it was that time but now being here and playing alongside Russ playing alongside Melo I built a real Brotherhood with those guys if we’re here right now then where can

We be next year where can we be the year after that of course La is is home so that’s that’s always going to draw the attention but I’m definitely happy where I’m at and I like where we’re going and I want to see how how this unfolds in

The 2018 18 season Paul George played on the MVP level averaging 28 points per game and finishing in top three in the MVP voting it honestly it was just like they let me be me they let me hoop in every way possible the dynamic duo of PG

And Russ was fun and exciting to watch every game was highlight re and OKC won a lot of games however only in the regular season B quickly got it and won George in the postseason due to their inconsistency and poor execution they couldn’t even make it out of the first

Round but I felt I didn’t finish as strong as I could have just knowing that you left something on the table even to this point now it weighs on me following humiliating playoff disappointments it was clear that the experiment failed miserably but we knew it it wasn’t going

To be a overnight you know success story uh we was going to have to iron out some things learn each other figure each other out some haters felt like the Paul George and Russell Westbrook were just a discount KD and Russ Duo all they remember is y Ain’t Met play LP yet huh

Damen Lillard with the Royal wave after his epic buzzer beating gamewinner in game five long range three and of course it was a bad shot comments in the postgame interview care what anybody says that’s a bad shot an NBA player the way the CBA Works

Has one chance to make a choice in their Prime being a free agent is is overwhelming it’s a lot of things that go into it trying to find the right fit I hope I make the majority of the people happy but ultimately it’s my decision

And and I want to be the happiest I can be with that decision I’m excited to go through this journey in the early morning hours of July 6th 2019 just 1 year after reigning with the Thunder the Los Angeles Clippers shocked the NBA Oklahoma City is trading Paul George to the Clippers

Kawhai Leonard and Paul George now LA Clippers for 29-year-old Paul that move resonated far beyond the basketball court I think the average fan don’t understand where humans we have families it’s a lot deeper than you know me coming here for basketball reasons Paul’s mom only attended games close to

Home because of her ongoing recovery it’s remarkable how she’s been able to recover but I know traveling has still been hard for her when you played in Indiana when you played in Oklahoma City what was the challenge for her to be able to get to games her whole day is

Rough you know you know for my mom it’s it’s hard for her to move and you know getting out of bed is tough you know so she have to wake up early in the morning catch flights drive to airport it was tough on her she never complained but

Looking at it and and watching her go through it you saw the struggle you know it was hard for her but that was a big part of the decision and my mom been so supportive she catches almost any game that she can so for me to be able to

Come to her and make it a lot easier for the travel on her and my dad that was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to come back and play home this next chapter in my life up until this point in my career hopefully is you know the

Biggest chapler of them all let’s talk about Paul George hasn’t played really highly competitive basketball since you know the spring he had both shoulders like hanging by a thread for the last few months of last season when you sit out this long away from the game of

Basketball it takes time he’s been in the league for 10 years and he has experience with this he that leging suffered with Team USA he had to come back from that and so I I fully expect I don’t know if it takes two games for you

Whatever it takes he’s going to be back and he’s going to be a gigantic part of what the Clippers do incorporate himself I’ve been in this position before being out grown so much as a player and as a person it’s point my career it’s only one thing I’m

After back in office 13 is back in office after missing the first 11 games of the regular season recovering from shoulder surgery George made his Clippers debut against the Pelicans scoring 33 points the highly anticipated long awaited debut of Paul George in a Clippers uniform he’s played in one

Scrimmage since April we’re just going to throw him out there you know and see what he can give us off glass and welcome to the family Paul George George curling off a screen flings a three and knocks it in 10 quick ones for Paul George Paul George is unconscious in his

First game as a Clipper so you got to give him credit each must have watched a heck of a lot of film and all that to be that prepared you take a lot of positivity home with Paul George being out there not just being out there he

Was the regular old Paul George that was the MVP candidate last year two days later in his home debut against the Atlanta Hawks George put up 37 points in just 20 minutes look at him just just how smooth and easy the game comes to him of last year counted on a foul and

Sent him back to the line cers by one coming out of the timeout 425 to play my goodness he’s just clicking on all cylinders just the patience and the confidence for God has bit out Paul George consistently demonstrated his impact on the court earning multiple All-Star selections and leading his team

To the playoffs his scoring and defensive ability solidified his status as one of the brightest stars in the league I mean I I couldn’t wait to get in front of this crowd I couldn’t wait be home play at home you know this is I can get used to this

But today it begs the question are the Clippers legit title contenders throughout the last four seasons Paul George wasn’t lucky he and the Clippers didn’t have a single healthy uninterrupted playoff run every year it was either Paul or Kawai that went down with injuries time will tell if the

Clippers super team can win the NBA championship one thing is certain PG has always shown that no matter what happens the most important thing is the family how did you call and tell your parents that this trade had happened and you were coming home I’m waiting for my

Agent earing to give me a call uh he gives me a call he’s like hey you’re coming home made it happen my agent he decided to be a prankster let’s tell your mom like you got traded to Toronto first thing my mom says oh boy it’s cold

There everybody on the phone just breaks out laughing then I jump on Mom I’m coming home I’m coming to the Clippers she loves that she you know see me a lot more she go to more games it’s a lot easier on her ultimately she’s staying off airplanes that means everything to

Me because just my journey my path where I started from so I’m a kid that came from nothing man I’m living out my dreams and where I’m at now is surreal what inspired me and what I want to be my my name to be left on is this kid

Came and he brought everything he had for us growing up Staple Center was iconic my parents get to be in there they have a seat there every night it’s bigger than anything that I could ever imagine it’s not just that you get to play in front of your family now you

Also get to play for a team that you rooted for growing up so when you are there warming up you see some kid who looks like you little Paul in Clippers gear what is that going to mean knowing he could be the next kid who grows up

And plays for this team on Christmas day well this time around hopefully they got a lot more to R for than I did but I I think that’s what’s so special about it I can give those kids opportunities I didn’t have growing up I can give kids

Hope I was once you and this is hopefully a shortcut I can give I feel like it’s my time to be here it’s my time to hopefully finish out my career here and be around my Family if you want to see more content like this make sure to leave a like and comment down below with your favorite Paul George moment thank you for watching and until next time

This is an original short film that focuses on remarkable journey of Paul George. From his humble beginnings to his rise to stardom, witness the highs and lows of PG’s career as he navigates the pressures of personal issues and professional basketball.

This short film is not associated with Paul George. It was made for entertainment purposes.

Written and Directed by Piotr Jasiolek
Produced and Edited by Piotr Jasiolek
Thumbnail design by Piotr Jasiolek

🏀 All footage and clips belong to their respective owners.
🎶 Music provided by Epidemic Sound.

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0:00 Intro
0:40 Beginnings
2:05 Fresno State
3:09 Indiana Pacers
5:27 Injury
8:39 Trade Talks
11:45 Oklahoma City Thunder
15:18 Los Angeles Clippers
21:50 Outro

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