Paul George turned back into Pandemic P with errant pass (Video)

Paul George reverted back into Pandemic P for one play during the LA Clippers’ season opener.

All in all, it was a very good first quarter for the LA Clippers in their 2020-21 NBA season opener Tuesday night. Facing the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers unleashed a couple months’ worth of pent-up rage left over from their disappointing second-round playoff collapse.

One of the biggest no-shows during that conference semifinals series, Paul George, was instrumental in the Clippers’ choke job, and the self-appointed nickname of “Playoff P” quickly turned into a running joke of “Pandemic P” on NBA Twitter.

The season opener was a different story though, as the Clippers surged to a 39-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. Paul George quietly contributed across the stat sheet, chipping in 3 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal with a plus/minus of plus-16.

However, Pandemic P just couldn’t help but rear his ugly head on one memorable play in the opening period, as PG totally started seeing ghosts in the corner with this errant pass to no one:

https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1341588887324516354

Paul George is definitely going to be on Shaqtin’ A Fool now

In George’s defense, this silly turnover in no way affected the flow of the game in the first quarter, which was all in the Clippers’ favor. While it’s amusing he must have thought Luke Kennard was running behind him on the fast break and heading for the corner, and while it was hilarious watching the referee try to get out of the line of fire, PG looked good early on.

The Clippers appear to be out for blood after they failed to reach the preordained “Battle of LA” matchup in the Western Conference Finals, especially since they had to watch the Lakers cruise to a championship relatively unchecked. Hopefully these types of boneheaded plays won’t appear when every possession matters in a potential playoff series.