Insider: On Kobe Bryant's night, Pacers' Paul George cherishes final moments

LOS ANGELES — Let Paul George paint you a picture.

The backdrop starts with a boy from Palmdale, Cal., sitting with family members and watching the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant starred both on the TV and inside the boy’s head. So from the living room, he’d move to the front yard and try to emulate the jab step, the pump fakes, the counter moves as well as the game-winners. Just like his basketball hero.

“I was pretending that I was Kobe,” George recalled. “Doing the whole countdown from 3… 2…1...."

Those idyllic childhood days are in the past. Now George has known his own NBA success. And after performances like Sunday night's, when he scored a game-high 39 points in the Pacers’ 107-103 victory against the Lakers, surely he now stars in the daydreams of basketball-loving kids. Even so, on a night when Bryant announced plans to retire after the 2015-16 season, George allowed himself to remember that little boy once again.

“Kobe was my Jordan,” George said. “Watching him win championships, I remember being at home just watching the games with my mom, my grandma and my dad and just idolizing him.

“I’m not saying he’s better than Jordan,” George said, “but to me growing up, that’s who I idolized.”

On a night when the predictable storylines appeared to be Lakers center Roy Hibbert facing his former teammates for the first time or the Hickory-clad Pacers (11-5) going for their 11th win in 13 games, the focus completely shifted at 3:50 p.m. PST. That’s when a tweet was sent from Bryant’s account, along with his heartfelt missive to the game of basketball.

Bryant wrote about a six-year-old boy who fell in love with the sport — much like a young Paul growing up with the same devotion. Now as a 20-year veteran and one of the greatest to ever play, Bryant understands it’s time to “say goodbye.”

“I’ve known for a while,” Bryant told a crowded room of reporters after the game. “I feel very solid in my decision.”

“Sitting in meditation, my mind starts drifting," Bryant explained. "It always drifted towards basketball. Always. It doesn’t do that now. It does that sometimes. It doesn’t do that all the time. To me that was the first indicator that this game is not something I can obsess over too much longer.”

So, Sunday started the countdown. The final chapter in an illustrious career will soon come to a close. But inside a sold-out Staples Center, the storybook ending would have to wait.

The Pacers did not need a sparkling performance to take a large lead in the first quarter since the Lakers (2-14) missed their first 10 shots. The crowd waited for something, anything to happen so that they could release a wave of love on Bryant. He came up short on jump shots and even tossed up an air ball from beyond the arc in starting the game 0-for-6. In this final season, Bryant has struggled, shooting 31.5 percent from the floor and 19.5 percent from 3-point range. For the game, Bryant missed 16-of-20 attempts and cobbled together 13 points. But that did not dampen Lakers’ fans enthusiasm.

“Every time he touched the ball and every time he checked in, the place exploded like it was Game 7 of the Finals,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “The environment that we played in tonight was atypical to what the Lakers have been this year.”

Actually, at least early on, the game mirrored the typical drudgery of 2015-16 Lakers basketball. Into the second quarter, the overall team shooting tumbled to 8 percent. Then in the third quarter, the Pacers opened a 22-point lead. George, playing in front of several friends and family members, stamped his signature on the third quarter with 5-of-8 shooting and 15 of the Pacers’ 32 points.

Nevertheless, behind strong 3-point shooting and costly Pacers’ turnovers, the Lakers made the fourth quarter much more interesting and finally, the old Bryant showed up.

With 12 seconds left in the game, Bryant looked like the player a young Paul idolized, hitting a 3 to pull the Lakers within one, 104-103. Moments later Bryant would have another chance, the ball in his hands for the game-tying shot. George played defense, and later copped to the fact that Bryant had space and a good look. Still, Bryant rushed the shot and fired wide of the rim for another air ball.

No 3…2…1... buzzer-beater. No classic Black Mamba moment. Still, for the boy who once pretended to be Kobe Bryant, the picture never fades.

“He’s still Kobe Bryant, regardless of how he shot the ball tonight. In my eyes, he’s still one of the greatest players to play this game,” George said. “It was just about cherishing this moment, period. I was thinking this could be my last matchup against him in L.A. … So I just knew off the bat to cherish this last moment.”

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Pacers at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, FSI

IndyStar is the only local media outlet with the Pacers on the West Coast. Follow everything that's happening with our app.