Larry Bird’s ill-conceived attempt to improve the team’s offensive efficiency with multiple ball-dominant scorers and paint-bound bigs was presumably done with the intent of lessening George’s two-way burden. Instead, his team’s unsuccessful attempt to outrun opponents, without the benefit of consistent off-ball threats, rebounding, or sound defense, ended up producing the exact opposite result at the worst possible time.
"As I told Larry, I always want to play on a winning team,” George told ESPN’s Marc Stein while discussing his future with the Indiana Pacers on ESPN Radio’s Meet the All-Stars back in February.