In the heat of the final push for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Paul George said he would love for LeBron James to mentor him. George’s Pacers are two games ahead of James’ Miami Heat for the top seed in the east with about 20 games left to go in the season, but that hasn’t stopped George from speaking his mind.
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"It would be great to be able to pick his brain, pick his mind and just talk about the game because I think he's a player that can help me get to the next level and continue to keep going to the next level. I wish some day we have that relationship where he is someone I can talk to — not during the season because I'm too competitive during the season — but maybe in the summertime,” George told reporters.
George has emerged as one of the up and coming stars of the NBA, but has had times where he can look mediocre at best. James has said on numerous occasions that he is willing to mentor any NBA player that reaches out to him and doesn’t see the mentoring as competition, but simply two professionals trying to sharpen their skill set. James was asked about George’s quote by Bleacher Report and reiterated his opinion.
“It’s a new era, man. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t take the competitive spirit out of (anything), man. And I think people need to realize that. You don’t have to hate somebody to compete against somebody. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if my mom is on the floor—I don’t want her to win, I don’t want her to score. When I step out on that floor, people know. People know that (when) I go out and I play, the minutes I’m out on the floor, if they’re not ready, I’m going to dominate them. And even if most of the time when they are ready, I’m still going to dominate them.”
These two teams will likely see each other in the Eastern Conference finals, barring any setbacks. This is just another chapter in the story to the NBA Finals.
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