Paul George: "The bubble got the best of me. I was just in a dark place. I really wasn't here, I checked out. These past couple of games, it was just difficult. But shout out to the people that stood behind me that were in my corner. The positivity of my teammates, my family, my friends, everybody. Thanks everybody that reached out to me. I was just in a bad place but I found my way. I'm back and I look forward to the rest of this run. I underestimated mental health. Anxiety, a little bit of depression... Games 2, 3, 4 I felt like I wasn't there."
Dan Patrick: “Paul George said he was in a ‘dark place’ and was battling depression in the Bubble there.”
Charles Barkley: “Yea, I’m not sure what that was about. I have already talked to a couple players and they were complaining about the food, and other things like that. People who are living in the pandemic who have lost their jobs, you have two hurricanes that are barreling down on Houston…I don’t think guys making millions of dollars should be worried just because they’re stuck in a place where they can go fishing, play golf, and play basketball to make millions of dollars. That’s not a ‘dark place.’ The thing that just happened in Wisconsin, the thing that is happening with this pandemic, all those people losing their jobs – THOSE people are in a dark place. We are the luckiest people in the world to dribble a stupid basketball to make millions of dollars, we’re never in a dark place. I think we need to be careful what we complain about. Those people who are about to get hit with those two hurricanes in the middle of a pandemic – that’s awful, and my thoughts are to those people.” (Audio Above)
Listen to Charles Barkley join The Dan Patrick Show to discuss Paul George’s revealing postgame comments after Tuesday night’s Clippers victory over the Mavericks, where George blamed some of his poor play on his mental struggles while battling depression and anxiety inside the NBA's Orlando Bubble. Paul said he was 'lost' without the fans present at the arena, and couldn't figure out ways to psych himself up.
Before his 35-point eruption in Game 5, George was playing some of the worst basketball of his career in Games 2-4, scoring just 34 points combined in the three games, on 10 of 47 (.212) shooting.
Check out Barkley’s reaction below, as Barkley calls out George for saying that he was in a ‘dark place’, saying there’s millions of people without jobs during a pandemic, and millions more about to get hammered by catastrophic hurricanes in the Southern states who are in a ‘dark place’ – not a millionaire dribbling a basketball at Disney World.
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