Paul George Credit: Podcast P
NBAPodcastsBy Brendon Kleen on

Paul George was the biggest NBA star to change teams this offseason, leaving his home of Southern California to sign a free agent deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.

And while George respectfully stayed quiet about negotiations until he formally signed his contract this week, NBA fans who tuned into George’s Podcast P this week received the full story of his departure from the Los Angeles Clippers from his point of view.

George discussed meeting with a Sixers delegation led by Hall of Famer Julius Erving as part of the first real free agency experience of his career. He opened up on his excitement for playing next to fellow All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Most importantly, George was specific about his negotiations with the Clippers.

George detailed his hopes of getting a deal from L.A. equivalent to the one teammate Kawhi Leonard received in January and how contract talks evolved from then until he departed from the team this summer. In George’s telling, the Clippers hesitated to fork over the full amount of money they could or ensure he would remain in L.A. by adding a no-trade clause to his contract.

Clippers fans online chided George for moving the goalposts, and they may well be right. But in this era of athlete podcasts, it’s hard as a neutral observer to criticize an athlete host for being too honest. After all, when Draymond Green coined the term “new media,” the thesis statement for this new mode of sports content was that athletes would give the unfiltered story of their career from their perspective. That hasn’t happened.

So sure, George may have fallen into the same pitfalls of any proud, successful performer in contract negotiations. Maybe subconsciously, money and stability were bigger drivers for the 34-year-old in free agency than he realized or let on. The point is that George is exposing himself enough to even generate that debate in the first place. Few others do.

The same was true of George’s broadcasting debut this spring at the NBA Finals, in which ESPN host Stephen A. Smith took a cheap shot at Leonard, a close friend and teammate of George’s, over his injury history. George recounted the live, on-air tension the following week on Podcast P and why he believed Smith crossed a line. The segment even got an apology from Smith.

George’s transparency includes the basketball of it all, as well. After the Clippers’ season ended, George explained the difficulties of competing consistently at a high level after the team’s early-season trade for star guard James Harden thinned out the roster.

George discussed how losing the team’s defense-first role players led him and Leonard to do the “dirty work” for the team, which took a physical and mental toll and led to the team again falling off and dealing with injuries by the postseason.

Again, some will mock George for not wanting to do the dirty work. Ruthless fans online will call him soft or blame him for the team’s failures. But that comes with the territory.

Somewhere along the way, athletes seemingly came to view podcasts as a marketing vehicle to be liked more. They can raise their Q rating, fluff up their persona, and explain their way out of criticism. That couldn’t be further from reality.

The most prolific hosts across all of media, from Bill Maher to Sean Hannity to Ellen DeGeneres to Shannon Sharpe, are polarizing. They spend so much time in front of cameras evoking a persona that they invite hate, just as they earn love.

Too often, athletes use their podcasts as merely a platform to troll, talk smack or reminisce. Those shows aren’t interesting. They might play on social media or give an athlete an ego hit, but they don’t add anything to the conversation. Athletes, uniquely, do not need the income they earn from podcasting. That makes the calculus understandably different for George than for your average Barstool or Ringer staffer, but it doesn’t change what makes for good content.

Sometimes, as with Green’s podcast, athlete hosts can be flat-out unhelpful. Green hosted Kevin Durant for an interview back when he was still with Bleacher Report in 2021, during which the two former Warriors teammates conveniently blamed management for the team blowing up two years prior. Through Green’s various punishments over the years in Golden State, he has typically pressed pause on his podcast until he has a carefully manicured perspective to lay out.

In the NFL, beef often feels like the only point of hosting a podcast. Whether it’s Micah Parsons vs. Deebo Samuel, Cam Newton vs. the media, or everyone’s reactions to Tom Brady on Fox, there is not a lot of authentic conversation.

Perhaps goofing around and starting fights is enough for some, but it’s hard to imagine those shows having staying power. With Podcast P, George provides real insight into life as an NBA superstar. Even in interviews, George has drawn genuine answers from athletes like Klay Thompson about the emotional toll of aging in the league or WNBA rookie Cameron Brink about the attention on her draft class. In short, George appears to actually care about making a good podcast and giving himself over to an audience.

This summer has proven it.

About Brendon Kleen

Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.

View all posts by Brendon Kleen