Paul George takes shot at Pacers over Stephenson decision
Paul George isn’t too pleased with how his former team just did one of his former teammates.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers decided to decline Lance Stephenson’s fairly cheap $4.3 million team option for next season, making him a free agent.
The Indiana Pacers are declining Lance Stephenson’s $4.3M team option and he’ll be a free agent, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 25, 2018
The decision got a pretty strong reaction out of George, who took to Instagram just minutes later to shade the Pacers. The five time All-Star forward posted a screenshot of the news and wrote, “Wow and I was the bad guy huh?! In this business you do what’s right for YOU! #PacerLegend”
George and Stephenson entered the league together, having both been drafted by the Pacers in 2010. They were teammates in Indiana for a total of five seasons, which included multiple deep playoff runs with each other.
While often times volatile and unpredictable, the 27-year-old Stephenson had become a Pacers fan favorite over the years with his impassioned play and his dedication to the team. It looks like that ultimately got him nowhere though, and George, who had his own disagreements with Indiana, can empathize.