Paul George will play in his third All-Star game Sunday night in Toronto. This one is more meaningful than the other two because of everything that he has been through over the last 18 months.
Many initially feared that his career was over back on Aug. 1, 2014 when his suffered a right leg injury. Fortunately, there was no joint, ligament, nerve, or tendon damage. Only a broken bone — and bones heal.
George is back to being the top 10 player in the NBA that he is, and PG received the third-most votes among Eastern Conference players, trailing 12-time NBA All-Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
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For the second straight All-Star game that George has been available, he was voted a starter in the East by fans. He’ll almost be joined by Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks and Kyle Lowry of the Knicks.
When George takes the court Sunday at the Air Canada Centre with his teammates from the East, they’ll be in the home white uniforms. And, it’s George’s first All-Star game wearing No. 13. He put in the request to change his number, to become PG-13 prior to the 2014-15 season.
Also for the first time, All-Star jerseys will have a corporate logo patch — of KIA, a big corporate partner of the league.
It’s only a matter a time, likely just one more year, until every team can sell one logo on the front of its jerseys. It would make the most sense for this to start for the 2017-18 season when Nike takes over as the official apparel provider of the league.
George’s All-Star jersey is available in the Pacers gift shop and online for $110.28, plus tax.
Nike also made George a special shoe for Sunday’s game. The color scheme: University Red/Black/Sail/Metallic Gold. The shoe is available on Nike’s website for $110. Every one of Nike’s All-Star shoes is inspired by Toronto’s royal origins.
See various angles of the shoes in the photos below, provided by Nike.