Doyel: Paul George backs down ... for now

For one day, the Indiana Pacers had peace. How long it lasts? That’s up to Paul George.

Playoffs, no playoffs. Peace, no peace. The season, the fate of the franchise going forward – can it even move forward? – is up to him.

George is the Pacers’ best player – and not by a small margin. A few weeks ago when team president Larry Bird was talking about the Pacers’ switch to position-less basketball – small ball, basically – he was talking about small-ball duos whose teams have won recent NBA titles. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson at Golden State. Bird was talking about the importance of having a Batman, and a Robin.

Paul George is his team’s Batman. So who, I asked Bird, is Robin?

Bird came up with Monta Ellis, and Monta Ellis is a fine player – but he’s no Dwyane Wade. He’s no Klay Thompson. Which means Paul George is less Batman, more Superman.

And if Superman’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy.

And for months, Superman hasn’t seemed happy.

George’s latest rebellion against the Pacers’ new style of play came Saturday night, after one preseason game, when George scored 18 points in 24 minutes but decided that Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis “kicked my (butt).” George said, again, that he’s not sure about having to play power forward, including this ominous comment: “Maybe it’s something we can go away from.”

Which is why George’s comments on Monday were a good step, if a small one, as the Pacers do this delicate dance of trying to move forward with a new system – over the repeated objections of their star player.

The best thing George said Monday? It came after he said he has spoken with Bird and coach Frank Vogel about the new system, and they reiterated that “we’re gonna stick with it.” And when asked if he was OK with that answer, George said this:

“I’m a part of this team, whatever it is,” he said.

Sounds great, but only if he means it. Only if he shuts up and plays, to put it indelicately. Not for one day or one week, but for a whole season.

Publicly lobbying after one preseason game for the Pacers to scrap an entire offseason of plans – who they drafted, who they signed in free agency, how they prepared for training camp – isn’t just selfish. It’s lunacy.

It’s combustible, this Pacers franchise. It’s delicate. Paul George doesn’t run the team – “He don’t make the decisions around here,” Bird memorably said this summer when asked about George’s discomfort with playing the four – but he does have the ability to make or break this style switch. Vogel knows it, which is why he was conciliatory toward his franchise player on Monday, telling me he had no problem with George’s comments Saturday.

“Postgame comments after losses, I never react to,” Vogel said.

How important is it, I asked Vogel, that your best player buys into the new system?

“It’s important,” he said.

What happens if he doesn’t?

“Well, he’s going to buy in, so I’m not really sure how to answer that,” Vogel said. “We’re going to work together to figure out the best combination of all these things.”

The season hangs in the balance. George isn’t just the best player; he’s the leader. For years David West had that role, but West is gone. Into the vacuum of leadership will step Paul George, making his willingness (or not) to play power forward all the more important. Teammates are watching. How can they not?

“He has concerns about it. That’s obvious – everybody knows that,” small forward C.J. Miles told me Monday. “I don’t think that means he’s not buying in. I don’t look at it that way. I think he’s just saying what he thinks.”

That’s a charitable way to look at George’s latest complaint about the new system. And so is something George said Monday:

“It’s no complaint,” he said of his postgame complaint. “I gave my opinion. It’s no complaint. Y’all asked me the question, I gave my opinion, and that’s it.”

But that’s not it. The story didn’t end Saturday night – it merely started up again. Same story from July, when George first opened the can on this controversy. Same story from three weeks ago, when George said it was “news to me” that he would start games at power forward, and added, “I don’t think I’m at that point in my career where I should be changing positions.”

And then, Saturday. Another complaint – sorry, an opinion – about his role in the new system. On Monday he backed down, but George has backed down several times, only to come back with another complaint. I told George on Monday that his comments triggered a firestorm. He nodded.

“Oh, it triggers,” he said. “It triggers.”

So, I asked, will you keep triggering it?

Short answer: Yes. Longer answer:

“I’m going to give my opinion,” George told me. “This is what the media is for. To give my opinion. I’m going to give my opinion. I’m not going against my teammates, I’m not going against this organization. I’ve always been a part of this team from day one. That’s the reason why I chose to stick around and stay with this organization. I’m just giving my opinion.”

Enough, you know? He’s given his opinion enough – and it’s the opinion of Bird and Vogel that the new system is best for the Pacers. Either George thinks they know more basketball than him, or he doesn’t. Either George wants what’s best for the Pacers, or he doesn’t.

Either George shuts up and plays. Or he doesn’t.

The Pacers' 2015-16 fate awaits his final decision.

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel