Don’t sully these Indiana Pacers’ moments by talking about Paul George

Let these Indiana Pacers be themselves and stop comparing them to Paul George. It is time to move on from that chapter with the team.

Myles Turner put to bed talks of Domantas Sabonis replacing him with a bounce-back game against the Miami Heat. His 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks served as a reminder that the Indiana Pacers’ future revolves around him.

The lack of confidence that permeated his previous eight games was nowhere to be found. Indiana made a point to feed him the ball as he only missed one of his 10 shots in the first half — a 3-pointer — and he ended the first half with 20 points.

Turner credited a visit from Victor Oladipo at 1 a.m. on Saturday where they talked about his on-court struggles.

The leadership shown by Oladipo and Turner’s receptiveness to it says a lot about team’s chemistry and it’s how it’s different than the ones in previous years.

However, that immediately was taken as a chance to take direct shots at former Paul George, who was never known for his leadership.

I politely ask the everyone stop doing that. Let these Pacers be themselves instead of everything they do becoming a referendum on Paul George.

Don’t be a hockey fan. I love the Washington Capitals, but it always frustrates me seeing my fellow fans ruin any great moment in the game by immediately comparing it to the NBA or other sports. As Paul Wheeler of Stanley Cup of Chowder wrote, it reeks of “please like my sport”, a self-destructive inferiority complex.

And that’s what it sounds like when moments like Myles and Victor’s are used as a baton to beat the dead horse known as “**** Paul George for leaving.”

We know PG never was a leader in the way we imagine the best player on a team should be. It’s something that we let slide because he was such a good player, or maybe we just have a romantic notion of what the best player needs to be.

Paul George left in a way that destroyed many years of goodwill. I get wanting to take more shots at him, it is a natural impulse, and I occasionally do (tongue-in-cheek) on our Twitter account. But it reeks of “Please like these Pacers” in a way that cheapens the current team’s accomplishments — especially when said in a serious tone.

Paul George, the Blue Collar, Gold Swagger era, that’s gone. For better or worse it is in the past, and that’s where it should stay for the most part. It isn’t that fans shouldn’t mention PG’s name at all, but when used as a tool to drag him, it takes away from the current team — in my eyes at least.

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I’m not here to police fandom. I’m only here to say moving on from Paul George means not talking about him when he isn’t part of the conversation. I’m not to defend what’s left of his legacy, but to start building the ones of these Indiana Pacers.