The Paul George gambit

NBA fans know Paul George is a forward for the Indiana Pacers. They're currently in a playoff series battling the defending champ Cleveland Cavaliers. And they've lost a couple of close games at Cleveland. The only surprise should be the games were close to begin with. The chances of the Pacers knocking off the Cavs in a 7 game series? Zero.

But George has been the focus of much news. Maybe he should have taken the last shot in Game One instead of passing the ball to a teammate that missed it.

Now George is calling out his teammates, specifically one Lance Stephenson, for not having enough "mental focus" in Game Two, another close loss.

Bottom line? This series will be over in five games -- max. And George likely knows that.

Yet why would he ruffle the feathers of not only his teammates, but likely the Indy front office as well with such comments to the press? Prez Larry Bird likely isn't too pleased with such publicity.

Turns out, George is a southern California native, so maybe he's angling for a trade to a west coast team, specifically the Lakers. True, the Lakers stink far worse than the Pacers, and he'd have to accept less money playing in LA-LA land than in Hoosierville. But dang, he'd be in the midst of all the glitz, movie stars, rappers, etc., that come along with playing there. And does it really make that much difference whether a hoopster is knocking down $20 million or $15 million a year? It's still a ridiculous amount of money for playing a stupid game. And who not named Mike Tyson can possibly spend that much money every year anyway?

Also true is he'd never get anywhere closer to an NBA championship ring with the Lakers than he will with the Pacers. The western conference is absolutely brutal these days given the likes of Golden State, San Antonio, and Houston. But hey, he'd be back home, where the weather is a whole lot better during the winter months of the NBA season with parties and night life galore to enjoy. Not too much of that is going to happen in Indianapolis.

Is Larry Bird paying attention? Does he care? Will he make a move? All unknown.

But George isn't exactly known for being stupid either.

So it might just be that there's a method (or ulterior motive) to his seeming madness after all.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out when the Pacers' season is over -- which will likely be within the next week.

Stay tuned......