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| Pictured: Two hard-asses. |
An
excellent article from Bill Reiter of Fox Sports delves into the relationship, and chemistry, between Danny Granger and Paul George. With Granger slowly working his way back from knee tendonosis and George emerging as a star, some pundits have questioned whether or not the two guards can coexist. And while the majority of the story deals with the respect between the two players (George says Granger has "been like a brother."), there is an interesting nugget which describes just how PG became a Pacer.
“(Paul and I) had gone through the draft and we were working out together,” Granger said. “It was the day of draft day, and – we have the same agent – I’d been working out with him for about a month. So I got about five calls from Larry Bird. Larry Bird never calls me. And he’s like, ‘Danny, I need you to call me back. Danny, I need you to call me back.’
“Finally, I call him back, and he’s like, ‘Ah, what do you think of this kid Paul George?’
“I’ve been working out with Paul.”
“He’s like, ‘Yeah, tell me what you think.’’’
“I say, ‘You better take him.’ That’s what I’m saying. ‘Dude, you gotta take him.’
“Is he good?” Bird asked.
“Dude. He’s really, really good.”
“All right, that’s all I wanted to hear,” Bird said. “Bye.”
“And that was it,” Granger says. “And later that night we selected him.”
