Paul George was the last player out of the locker room on Sunday night, headed into the frigid Oklahoma City air to fulfill New Year's Eve plans. He was dressed like a living Magic Eye picture, a black-and-white triangled outfit on which, if you squinted hard enough and maybe crossed your eyes a little, you'd see a dolphin or something. It was eye-catching, to say the least.

George had original plans to wear it on Christmas Day, shockingly his first Christmas game, but scaled back and went with something a little more understated.

George has always been smooth, gracefully gliding around the court and handling the ball like he's trying to salsa with it. He has a certain coolness about him, and it showed on the last day of 2017 -- if he can pull off that outfit, he can pull off anything.

It's the way George has always seen himself: versatile, flexible, adaptable.

"I can play in any offense and play off any player," George said. "There was no ego that I was packing coming here; it was whatever to help the team, whatever to help Russ. I knew I had a lot to offer, and it was just about finding my niche and figuring it out."

Every season, George enters with a personal goal in mind: win defensive player of the year. He has made four All-Star teams and has earned one All-Defense first-team and two second-team honors, but he has never planted himself firmly in the DPOY conversation.

He has seen San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard take home the trophy twice and sees no reason he's not in the same category. Well, maybe one reason.

"I've thought I had some pretty good seasons where I was up there defensively," George said. "I just wasn't on the stage to get the recognition. But on this team, I can definitely own up to being one of our best defenders and take pride in that."

"You know what surprises me? He doesn't take any energy drinks. Being on the other team, I thought, 'This man is on Red Bull.'"

It was during a national TV game when George jolted his name into the early award conversation. Playing against the Golden State Warriors, and a matchup against Kevin Durant, George was destructive with four steals and two blocks, outplaying the former OKC MVP.

On Christmas, he spent time checking the Houston Rockets' James Harden, Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza and even Clint Capela while adding 24 points on offense. It's the marquee games that can build narrative and reputation, things hard to earn in exile playing mostly for the local market and the hard-core NBA League Pass subscribers.

"Yeah, I think so," George said of more attention on him, "but I only think so because we've been on TV already about 15 or 20 times. I've always had a presence and played hard defensively, but it's hard to not see now when we're on TV so much. ... I'm at the point where I'm able to be watched."

The term "two-way player" is an NBA buzzword that's thrown around, but players like George or Leonard are the ultimate commodities -- elite talents on both ends: "super two-ways."

George has seen his counting stats take a step back as he has settled into a role running alongside Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, something he says he's entirely comfortable with. In Indiana, George produced stat-stuffing seasons, with career scoring years in consecutive seasons before the trade.

He anticipated an even heavier workload this campaign, adding bulk and muscle to his frame in the offseason. But following the trade to OKC, he immediately started trimming back his physique. He wanted to get lighter, quicker and more explosive again.

And as he says, ready to keep up with Westbrook.

"I definitely felt I was heavy, I felt I wasn't moving as well. To run with Russ, you have to be in some good shape," George said. "I found that out early. I changed my diet, [did] a little more cardio. I'm able to move. I'm able to slide my feet defensively and get back to bringing that defense."

Paul George and Russell Westbrook have struck a balance as OKC rises up the West standings. Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images

The numbers George is posting as a wing defender are eye-catching. He leads the league in steals per game at 2.44, with Westbrook second at 2.03. George is first in deflections and is almost an entire deflection per game ahead of the second-ranked Robert Covington.

Among small forwards, George is third in defensive win shares and fifth in ESPN's Defensive Real Plus-Minus. He's on pace to become only the second player in the past decade to average more than 2.4 steals and 20 points per game (Chris Paul in 2007-08 and 2008-09).

You know you're defensively influential when opposing teams scout and try to eliminate you from the scheme. George gets screened incessantly, trying to force a switch in which he's taken out of the play.

"He can just [get a steal] when he wants to," one league executive said.

There's no question George is one of the bright stars in the NBA, but as the Thunder stumbled out of the gates, paired with some erratic shooting nights, there was light chatter building about whether George and Westbrook could share the floor.

Would Westbrook not leave enough oxygen for George's game to breathe? But George takes pride in a well-rounded game. He can play with the ball or without it. He moves, he slashes, he slithers around screens and he hits jumpers on pindowns. He defends, he rebounds, he passes. If you're looking for the kind of player who meshes with a distinct star like Westbrook, you want one who can do it all.

"I always just take pride in being a basketball player," George said with emphasis. "If I'm not scoring, I still want to be productive, whether that's defending, stealing passes, rebounding, playmaking, whatever it is, I don't ever try and pinpoint on one thing in a game.

"I feel like you can dominate a game in so many ways. That's just always been my mindset, just play ball. Be a basketball player and everything will fall into place."

The Thunder are finding a formula in Westbrook taking the lead offensive role with George playing off of him. George believes the next tier of recognition comes from winning.

The more success the Thunder have, the more his total game will get noticed: A rising tide lifts all superstars.