Now in his ninth season in the NBA, Paul George says he is enjoying being a mentor to the younger players on the Thunder.
Of course, the Thunder have had an influx of younger talent on the roster with the additions of Terrance Ferguson, Hamidou Diallo, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot and Abdel Nader in recent seasons.
For a player like Luwawu-Cabarrot, he idolized George growing up. Once he learned that was traded to the Thunder in the three-team deal involving Carmelo Anthony, Luwawu-Cabarrot said George was his favorite player.
George knows that Luwawu-Cabarrot was his favorite player and welcomes any conversation that he can have with the younger players on the Thunder to not only help them, but help the team too.
“I knew that [I] was a player that he looked up to since he was in Philly,” George said. “We have a dialogue about playing the game and stuff like that. I try to give as much as I can, whether it is Tim, whether it’s Terrance or whether it’s Hami. I enjoy having conversations with the younger guys here, not to say that I’m old or nothing like that but I’ve kind of been around the league for a little bit now.
“I enjoy having those conversations. I’ve said this before: any information I can give out and let them know is going to make this team better. It’s going to improve their game. It’s going to improve the whole team’s overall game so I try to give as much as possible.”
Having a veteran around of George’s caliber can be quite beneficial for younger players. George is a five-time All-Star and a former All-NBA player so players know that when he says something, it carries weight.
George is averaging career-highs in points (24), rebounds (8.1), assists (4.4) and steals (2.3) this season.