Paul George is an All-Star caliber player. He’s also one of, if not the best wing defender in the NBA. Wizards head coach Scott Brooks took it a step further on Thursday.
Paul George has been widely regarded as one of the best wing defenders in the NBA, and there hasn’t been much debate against that. Right now he’s tied with Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe for the league-lead in steals. George has the ability to effectively shut down down anybody he wants on a given night, and that’s what makes him so special defensively.
On Thursday night against the Washington Wizards, George turned in one of his best defensive performances of the season. He didn’t shoot the ball all that well, but tied his teammate Andre Roberson with a game-high four steals on the night, and forced a few more errors by the Wizards ball-handlers. That performance prompted Wizards head coach Scott Brooks to say that George was the best two-way player in basketball.
That’s a pretty bold statement by Brooks, but you won’t get much debate from anyone else, because he might be right. If George isn’t the best two-way player in basketball then he certainly has to be pretty high up on the list, and the list of really good two-way players isn’t that long.
If you wanted to say Kevin Durant is the best two-way player in the league you wouldn’t be wrong. Durant is really great defensively, and obviously he may be one of the greatest scorers of all time.
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Nevertheless the Thunder have greatly benefited from George’s defense. They have the league’s fifth-best defensive rating and the sixth-best net rating. The Thunder spent most of the season in the top-three in defensive rating, but since they’ve been on an offensive tear lately they’ve given up a few more points than before.
George’s individual defense to go along with Andre Roberson’s has turned the Thunder into one of the league’s best defensive teams. The Thunder want to win the west, and in order to do that they’ll need George to continue being one of the best two-way players in basketball.