Pacers’ Paul George buys, donates jerseys to school

Earlier this week it was announced that Indiana Pacers forward Paul George would be switching his jersey from No. 24 to No. 13. While no official reason was given, it’s the assumption that George wants to be known as ‘PG-13’, a nickname coined by ESPN’s Bill Simmons.

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Some have stated that George made the decision after his horrific leg injury which he sustained during USA’s training camp, however, the Pacers All-Star petitioned the NBA long before and such a process was already in movement when George went down with the injury.

Often times when a player wants to make a jersey number change, if the manufacturing process has started they are forced to pick up the tab and pay for all the jerseys currently on the market. Because Paul George asked well before hand, he wasn’t on the hook for doing so – but he did it anyway.

The Indiana Pacers star finished 15th in league jersey sales last season and bought up the remaining stock (or at least a good portion of them) and donated them to his former high school.

Pretty cool gesture, right? It seems like the students and staff at Knight High in Palmdale, California were more than appreciative of Paul George’s generosity and while they may not have his current No. 13 jersey, they’ll still be able to rock their No. 24 as they support their favorite NBA star from 2,00 miles away.

Maybe next time he might want to save a few for his fans in Indiana though, especially given how kindly they’ve treated him.

[CBS]