Celtics forward Paul George admits the pressure and criticism he’s faced — particularly from former players — has bothered him at times over the years, but he’s embracing the opportunity to suit up for his new team, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscription required).
“This locker room, the culture here, the front office, the city, the organization, the tradition, all of that is something that I’ve never been a part of,” George told Washburn. “Where everything is high quality. For me, it’s refreshing. Hopefully, I can remain healthy. I think I became a journeyman along the way (of my career). At this point, I would love to be able to call Boston home.
“I’m fully immersing myself into this organization with the guys. I’ve been more than happy. I’m ecstatic with being here, being around these guys, like they brought something else out of me that to be quite frank has been buried, and that’s just a different passion. There’s a love again for this game, and I just think everything is kind of just aligning at the right time for me here.”
George has been limited to 78 regular season appearances over the past two years due to injuries and a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy — he said the banned substance he took was for a “mental health issue.” The nine-time All-Star, who’s in his 17th year in the league, was traded from Philadelphia to Boston over the summer as part of the Jaylen Brown blockbuster.
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Former lottery pick Devin Carter had his Exhibit 10 deal converted to a two-way contract on Saturday. The 24-year-old contributed 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and was plus-22 in 25 minutes during Boston’s preseason win in Cleveland on October 8, but he has been sidelined ever since due to an illness. According to Jay King of The Athletic (Twitter link), Carter is still away from the team as he deals with a bout of mononucleosis. The former Kings guard “could miss a few more weeks,” tweets Washburn.
- New Sixers forward Brown faced the Celtics on Friday first time since the trade, per Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Boston sat most of its starters in the final exhibition contest for both teams before the regular season. Brown, a second-team All-NBA selection last season, was asked how it felt to “get some of the awkwardness out of the way” by competing against his former team. “I’m not sure how to answer that,” Brown said. “I played there for 10 years, so it’ll never be ‘out of the way,’ you know what I mean? But it was good to see some of the young guys. Spent a lot of time with those guys. To see them develop and getting better is good to see.” As Mizell notes, Brown says he’s focused on the present and future and not the past. “We just are inching closer every single day,” Brown said of the 76ers. “So we’ve got to just continue to emphasize the type of mentality that we want to have — and the accountability that we want to have — and keep moving forward.”
- In case you missed it, the Celtics’ roster is now within the regular season limits after placing Hayden Gray, Milos Uzan, Gabe McGlothan and Tucker DeVries on waivers. All four of those players, who were on non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contracts, are expected to open the season with Boston’s G League affiliate in Maine. In addition to having all three of their two-way spots filled, the Celtics currently have 14 players on standard deals; carrying a 15th man would push them above the luxury tax line.