Current NBA rookies were born in this century and most don't know too much about the stars who dominated the league in the 80s and 90s. Brandon Miller, for example, is well aware of who Michael Jordan is, but never considered himself a die-hard fan of the player who most experts agree is the greatest basketball athlete of all time.
According to the current No.2 NBA Draft pick, he discovered his favourite player while browsing on YouTube. The Hornets forward, who grew up in Tennessee, idolised Paul George during his youth. He admired his smooth shooting, his ability to soar towards dunks, his stellar footwork and his teamwork plays.
While you'd think he would be more impressed with the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or even Stephen Curry, he revealed he always studied the current Clippers star. "I just never really studied LeBron," he said. "I don't knock LeBron. We know LeBron's the GOAT [for many others], best player for sure. But that was never my objective to study LeBron or study Kobe."
Brandon went all the way to call the veteran forward the best he's ever seen. "Paul George is the best player in my eyes … I don't really watch anybody else as far as trying to get their moves down. Paul George is my GOAT," Miller claimed.
When he first called George his idol, many ridiculed him for his choice, but the NBA world shortly realised that he's not the only one with sees the 33-year-old as one of the best of the generation. After 14 campaigns in the league, Paul has been selected nine times to the All-Star Game, two All-Defensive first-team honours and one All-NBA first-team selection.
According to the 21-year-old, the Clippers wing is the perfect player to study for his generation. He's convinced that many younger players are viewing the six-foot-eight veteran as the ideal NBA archetype, and is inspiring a new wave of tall wings. "It's kind of how the league is built now," he insisted. "Paul George is the right person to study for this generation."
George's game also reached veterans like Aaron Gordon, who has revealed he copied his wide range of moves. "He has some really nasty s— in his bag," said the Nuggets star. "I took a step-back from him. He drops it through his leg, back to the same hand and then jabs you. He steps back and that s— is nasty."
The Clippers wing admitted that he's noticed how there's a younger generation of players approaching himAccording to George, for the past decade he's felt the appreciation from the younger generation, or what he called "that next wave of guys." Ever since his 2015/16 campaign with the Pacers, he noticed how rookies were treating him like his basketball role model.
"Coming into that year is where I slowly started to hear, 'Yo, you're my favorite player. I look up to you,'" Paul told the press. "My come up is where the young generation started to kind of gravitate towards me."
However, many of these players are slowly becoming veterans in the league, and have remained in awe of George's ability ever since they went professional. One great example is Karl-Anthony Towns, who ended up becoming one of his closest friends.
"He's so smooth," the Minnesota center said. "His game is so fluid. He can do everything on the court. He has a great post-up game, fadeaway, either shoulder, step-back, going either way. Psssshhh, he can do everything."
Comments
Post a Comment