Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

Game 6%2C Pacers at Hawks%2C 7 p.m. Thursday on Fox Sports Indiana and NBA TV.

An uncommonly tall and good-looking man walked into the parlor of a boutique Orlando hotel two weeks ago.

Anyone looking up from their drinks might have seen double. The man in the room is also a 360-degree spinning, smiling dynamo who has become a fixture on TV.

Paul George's star is still rising, even as it's taken a few hits recently.

Ten months ago, the Pacers forward was the fearless underdog in Game 7 vs. the Miami Heat. Six months ago, he was an MVP candidate. On this April day, he's a lanky guy in a bright orange Nike sweatshirt, consumed by the playoffs while learning how to live this new life as a celebrity.

"It was a bit of a learning curve," George said between sips of his Venti Caramel Frappuccino, an indulgence only because he had the last night of the regular season off. "I just felt like I took that big step of just being an average player to, you know, someone who everybody recognizes. My Instagram taking a big hit with people following. With Twitter, people following.

"There was really no in-between, so everything was like new to me."

George has paid the wages of fame by watching his personal life become a public punchline. This includes a story that broke in February that George had allegedly impregnated a Miami-based exotic dancer — a situation that he now admits affected his play.

This week has mirrored his last 10 months — a strange journey filled with triumphs and troubles.

George achieved a personal goal of becoming an All-Star starter in February. However, late Monday night, the ring that the NBA presented him to recognize this honor, valued at $15,000, was stolen from his home.

He also helped the Pacers earn the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. But by Thursday night, that achievement could turn the Pacers into a laughingstock if they lose to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 and become just the sixth No. 1 seed to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by an eighth seed.

With the fan base growing restless and less sympathetic after every loss, and the franchise's rallying cry of "all-in" hanging over the players like the blade of a guillotine, George is trying to lead the Pacers while navigating the choppy waters of stardom. It hasn't been easy. There are few who can understand how to handle this level of fame as a 23-year-old — or even to throw a life preserver.

"I'm human. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to have growing pains," George said. "I mean, they drafted a kid from Palmdale. Small town, close-knit family, you know. I've never been in this position.

"I feel like I've just got a lot to learn."

The anonymous beginnings of Paul George

Understand this about George — he comes from a place as anonymous as he once was.

Before the aerospace boom and industries like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing became some of the largest employers, the city of Palmdale, Calif., was known for its mention in a Frank Zappa song. The lyrics, in part, satirized:

"Good God, I hope the wind don't blow. It take the paint off your car and wreck your windshield too. I don't know how the people stand it, but I guess they do."

Palmdale's population has swelled these days to more than 100,000, but it's a town straight out of an old Western where the desert stretches for miles without a tall structure in sight.

But even there, George could hide.

During the summers, his coach, Tom Hegre, had to keep the doors of the Pete Knight High School gymnasium open from dawn to dusk.

"Palmdale's so small and I was such a homebody, always in the gym (as a) kid," George said. "No trouble for me to ever get into."

His friends were his teammates. Olando Miller, Kyree Jackson, Lamont Dewindt. Good kids, blue-collar-type kids who loved basketball just as much as he did. Hegre lost count of how long they would stay in the gym. Their only other hangout was the local Denny's.

The team advanced to the California state finals in its division their senior year and George was named a conference MVP, but he did not have to carry the load alone.

"There were times that he did speak up for motivation," Miller said, "but it was Lamont who was the overall leader and Paul would step up (behind) Lamont."

George went to Fresno State, where he shared the spotlight with future pros Greg Smith and Sylvester Seay. The team wasn't that good, George was inconsistent — his effort showed but his skills needed improvement.

He was searching for his way in the world. He wasn't the gold chain, black-leather harem pants-wearing fashion horse he is now, but simply a 19-year-old who finished first in sprints during practice when others loafed and sometimes rocked an unfortunate shape-up after a haircut.

This is the same Paul George from Palmdale, now four years into his professional career, expected to be the leader of a championship contender and build his brand from scratch.

Though George has taken his time to thoughtfully address reporters at every media availability, displaying maturity beyond his years, he can still show his youth. And it happens when he feels overwhelmed by the mounting responsibilities.

"All of this is what I wanted from growing up watching guys have their own commercials, own sneakers, being on cereal boxes. All of that was something that I definitely dreamed of," George said. "But now, it's like, it's a lot of work. It's probably more work than being on the court, some of the stuff you've got to do off the court.

"It was always just something I loved and always wanted to do but everything else that comes along with it, I never understood. It's really tough."

So, he has learned, and he has made compromises.

On the team's last visit to Los Angeles on a five-game Western Conference trip, George had to do his first national spot as a Gatorade spokesman, but he had no clue it would last eight hours. Now he knows for the next commercial, he'll have to manage his time better.

George also wavered on accepting invitations to appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and, later, the All-Star Slam Dunk contest. He ultimately decided he would break out the gold and leather, turn on his million-watt smile and yuk it up for a late-night audience. George also chose to dunk over much-desired rest during All-Star weekend in New Orleans. In building the commercial appeal of Paul George, saying "yes" comes at a high price.

"We had a conversation, and the conversation was more about life and where he is at right now," Pacers assistant coach Nate McMillan said. "He has a lot of different things coming at him. He has commercial endorsements — he's all over the place. I said to him, 'I've never been in your shoes. I've never been an All-Star or a superstar so there's much more on your table, but you can't eat all of that. You got to pick your spots.'"

This is a long way from Palmdale. Back there, they don't know how he stands it, but they guess he does.

"Can you imagine how busy the guy must be?" Hegre mused while reclining in his comfortable seat at Pete Knight High a couple of months ago. "I can't imagine all the stuff that he has to turn down because there's not enough time in the day. I mean, everything is not easy about being that big.

"I'm positive he's probably really enjoying living the life, but I'm sure there are those days when he wishes he had the kind of time that those guys (back in high school) had just to hang out."

Everything that glitters…

While George breezily described his Eastern Conference All-Star starter status and the team's top seed as the two greatest highlights of the season, he did not have such an easy time talking about the lowest moments.

His voice dropped and smile faded, but George remained candid about situations in his personal life.

"Just dealing with all the off-the-court stuff. I think that's been a low point in my career," George said. "I just didn't know how to cope with it and how to deal with it at the time."

In early February, when George was unscathed by rumors and scandals, a woman, purportedly a stripper, claimed to be seven months pregnant with his child. George never denied that the baby could be his. By the time George sat down in Orlando to talk about his season, the woman had reached full term in the pregnancy. George directly addressed the possibility of becoming a first-time father.

"I mean, at the end of the day, it's a blessing," George said. "You know, my family is completely behind me. You know, so that's all I really care about. I grew up with great parents — two parents in my household. It's going to be different for this one if it's mine. But I grew up with great parents and great parenting, so I feel like if I'm in a position to be able to take care of a child and (then I'll) give it everything it needs."

Also, in March, George discovered that intimate selfies he had taken were splashed across the Internet. Gossip sites blogged that George had been 'catfished' by a male but he denied that story, saying that he knew the woman who leaked the photos. The fiasco provided fodder for sports writers and fans who tried to explain the mysterious slide of the Pacers and their star.

In the past, George had often turned to Brian Shaw, then an assistant coach, to direct him out of wilderness of mini-slumps by dangling the carrot of George's idol, Kobe Bryant.

"What makes you think you can cut corners today and that guy over there on the other coast is not cutting corners?" Shaw would ask George.

Danny Granger was another mentor. But both are now gone.

"There was a time when he wasn't playing well and there were some rumors out here," McMillan said. "I don't know if he was holding all of that in, didn't have anyone to talk with. I don't know."

It was no coincidence that George's scoring (22.7 to 20.8 after the report surfaced) and shooting percentage (.447 to .388) dipped after early February.

"To an extent," George said, answering if the reports about the pregnancy and later, the pictures affected him on the floor. "I mean, you got so much going on, people talking about this …"

George paused to collect his thoughts.

"I guess it's just how much of it can really get to you. Some of it's going to get to you. I feel like if you're a person (who doesn't) care, then obviously it's not going to be a problem for you. But if it's something that you care about, it's something that's always going to be in the back of your mind."

The off-the-court distractions made George withdraw. He watched what he posted on social media. He stopped hitting the clubs.

In other words, he grew up a little bit.

"This is just really my first year getting my feet wet and dealing with big-time businesses. Having Papa John's on deck, Gatorade on board, Nike on board, New Era on board," George said. "So it did make me nervous and it did make me just shut down from everybody on the outside world but again, it sped up the process to where now I really watch my surroundings and watch who I'm talking to. Just made me man up. I had to man up quick."

"I want to be remembered as a winner."

The day before his night off in Orlando, George stayed up and watched the 2000 NBA Finals. Kobe's Lakers versus the Pacers, his two worlds colliding. George noticed the intensity in Bryant's young eyes, then a fourth-year player on his way to his first championship ring. Watching that game, George sensed his own basketball mortality.

"He was 22, 23. Around my age, and just seeing his will, his drive, his passion, just watching his demeanor. How big of a game, how much he wanted that game," George said. "It motivated me, it's going to motivate me this whole playoff run to never take one possession off. Whoever I'm matched up on, I'm going to pressure 'em, I'm going to go after every loose ball, every rebound and really just focus in on the offensive end, making the right plays and knocking shots down.

"I want a championship as bad as you can want a championship. We got a chance, we're No. 1 in the East (and) we got a real shot of winning it all with the roster we have. I feel like this is a real opportunity this year. So it'll be devastating if we can't pull it together this year, because you never know what the future holds."

George has lived up to his promise, and he would has become only the second player in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (with at least 10 attempts) in a single postseason if he maintains his current pace, according to ESPN. (Dirk Nowitzki was the other.) And yet, this isn't enough.

The Pacers trail Atlanta 3-2 and now the fans are unforgiving. George is not the reason they're down in the series, but he bears their frustration.

On Monday night, NBA TV cameras picked up a hometown heckler mocking George. A reporter posted a tweet about George feeling "targeted" after his home was robbed and reactions spanned from "cry me a river dude" to "don't care how he feels … shut up and play." Yet, these are some of the very people who George wishes to win over.

"It's tough because they expect me to be a lot different, a lot better off. But again, this is all new to me," George said. "I haven't had the stardom that LeBron (James) had coming into the league, KD (Kevin Durant) had coming into the league. Those guys understood it from an early stage.

"I want Indiana to know, I'm taking those steps to try and be a franchise guy, to be a community guy. But they gotta understand, I mean, I'm sure every individual who's criticized me has made mistakes that they aren't happy about it.

"I feel like I've been raised to understand right from wrong. Everything I do isn't intentional. It's just me not knowing. And I have to learn from that. I'm going to grow from (my mistakes) but it's going to make me a better person and I want to be what Indiana wants me to be."

By now, George knows who he wants to be. George turns 24 years old on Friday. By then, he'll either be out of the playoffs, or preparing for a Game 7, which would undoubtedly add to his legacy.

"I want to be remembered as a winner," George said unflinchingly. "Champion. One of the best two-way players in this league. One of the best all-around players in this league and just a great person. A great person and ambassador of this league."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.