Joe Young, who the Pacers selected 43rd overall in last week’s NBA Draft, arrived in Indianapolis this week and met with the local media Tuesday morning, a day before rookie/free agent camp commences.
Young was excited to find out Paul George was his cousin, no matter how distant.
The outgoing Young spoke with a scrum of reporters for almost 14 minutes and halfway through, he shared the newly discovered information.
“Paul George is my cousin,” he said. “He works hard. I’ve seen the work he’s put in since he got into the league and I always piggyback off of that. I watch his videos and he really motivates me. As an older cousin, it’s truly an honor.”
Young was not aware of the family ties until recently. He found out from his mother, Tina, who was informed by a relative. Alex Da’Paul Lee of Beaumont, Texas is a historian and genealogist. He is Young’s fourth cousin and is currently conducting a big project on the entire Louisiana parish.
Lee was on the phone with Young’s mother after Joe was drafted and mentioned it.
“I was like, ‘Wait a minute. So they are really on the same team? I can’t believe it,” said Lee.
[From teacher to student, Joe Young eager to soak up NBA knowledge]
Paul’s great-great-great-great grandmother, Merice, is twin sisters with Joe’s fourth-great grandmother, Olympe. They are the Mulatto daughters of Céleste, a Negro slave of Martin Donato Bello in Opelousas, Louisiana. In his final will, Bello emancipated them upon his death. [Click here to read his will.]
When Merice passed away at 35, Olympe, then raised her twin sisters’ children.
Young is coming from Oregon, so of course he’s sporting Nike shoes.
It’s a wild connection that brings everything full circle for Joe Young and Paul George. Young said he not yet had a chance to talk with Paul.
“They are both phenomenal basketball players so that makes it even more remarkable,” Lee, who said he has had heard from people all over the country, added.
[Read more on Lee’s genealogy page.]
Going along with this family theme, Young selected his number George in mind. He wore 0 in high school and 3 at Oregon — but those are taken by C.J. Miles and George Hill, respectively.
“Everything I do there’s a 3 in it,” Young said. “I found out that Paul George is my cousin and he’s wearing 13. I thought that I’d wear 1, my old number is 3, and it makes 13. I chose 1 because I feel like there’s a connection there.”
Listen to Lee explain the family connection:
[audio:http://www.vigilantsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Alex-Lee-on-PG-Young-being-cousins.mp3|titles=Alex Lee on Young-George’s ancestry]Family Tree:
[Family Tree and will documents provided to VigilantSports.com from Alex Da’Paul Lee]