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The Pacers' Leader Takes a Stand

When the Pacers met for a catered team dinner Monday night in the upper levels of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Nate McMillan had a statement to make. So he called for all the members of the Pacers team that competed in the Eastern Conference Finals just three seasons ago to stand up.

Only one player rose: Paul George.

Ignoring the fact Lavoy Allen could have justified standing up partially – he joined that team at the trade deadline – a couple of points were made.

1. This is George's team to lead.

"He's the guy who's from the past," McMillan said following Tuesday's opening workout at The Fieldhouse. "What Larry (Bird) and Kevin (Pritchard) have done is build this team around Paul George."

2. Opportunities to compete for a championship in the NBA tend to be brief, and should be valued.

"In that moment I thought I was going to retire with those guys," George recalled of the 2014 conference finalsts. "I thought we would be together for awhile. But this league is about small windows. That's what makes it so critical that we (bond) early."

The Pacers began a new era Tuesday when training camp opened. Their roster consists of seven players who weren't with them last season, 12 who weren't with them two seasons ago and just one who was with them throughout the season of three years ago, when they finished 56-26 and were eliminated by Miami in Game 6 of the conference finals.

That player, George, is now the undisputed leader, both by the quality and quantity of his years of service. He, more than anyone else, will set the tone for what the organization hopes is the start of an era of championship contention much like the one that was aborted in part by George's broken leg two years ago.

Looking around at the new faces as he stood in front of his teammates Monday evening was a jarring experience.

Just six years ago, he was a 20-year-old rookie with deep reserves of ambition but a long way to go to reach stardom. Even three years ago, when he was the Pacers' leading scorer and an All-Star, he was still the young, reserved kid in the locker room who followed the lead of veterans such as David West, George Hill, Roy Hibbert and, for the first half of that season, Danny Granger.

George isn't the oldest player on this team by a long shot. In fact, he's only three years older than rookie George Niang. But it's his team. Fortunately for the Pacers, nobody disputes that. Put that question to his teammates, and all seem to agree they are following the lead of the 26-year-old, six-year veteran who has played in three All-Star games and owns an Olympic gold medal.

"When was it not his team?" asked C.J. Miles, who is beginning his third season with the franchise.

"It is his team. It's Paul's team," said Monta Ellis.

Ellis' endorsement is noteworthy, because the impression throughout most of last season was that he, not George, was the most powerful voice in the locker room — a 30-year-old alpha-dog who took a 20-point career average into the season, the street-tough player with a knack for getting his way, even if it meant eventually having to hit the highway. It was Ellis who sat in the coach's seat and addressed teammates during timeouts last season while the coaches huddled among themselves behind him. And it was George who listened.

That all seemed to change when the playoffs began. And now, after George's superlative performance against the Raptors and influential role on the Olympic team, Ellis says he'll have no problem turning over leadership responsibilities.

"I'm not going to step back, but it's Paul's team," he said. "Me doing that helped Paul become more vocal and a leader. He needed that.

"You have to understand, when you go from being the third or fourth option to being the No. 1 guy, there's challenges that come with it. Paul had never been on a team where he had to be the guy. Last year was a stepping stone to him being the leader this year. This year he's been more vocal and a leader."

George counts Granger, West, Hibbert, Hill and Ian Mahinmi as influences on his leadership style, for various reasons. He'll try to draw from all of them in establishing his own style.

"My personality naturally is to have fun and make the situation a lot lighter," he said. "I grabbed from David West, just coming in here and being a professional and doing what I need to do on the court, and just being a positive influence in the locker room. Danny wasn't much of a talker, he'd just go out there and play. He played hard. Roy was the locker room goof. He was always being playful and having fun. George Hill talked a lot. I grabbed a little bit from everybody.

"Even a little French from Ian," he added, laughing.

Put into practice, George's leadership should show in a lot of little ways. He volunteered to participate in the conditioning test set up for Tuesday night's practice – consisting of five sets of four timed floor-length sprints – although McMillan offered him a pass. He was first in line for drills Tuesday morning, and kept up his energy and chatter throughout the workout. It will have to be a season-long approach, obviously, but he sounds ready to stand up to the challenge. Because he knows how quickly things can change.

As a rookie, he was teammates with Jeff Foster. Three seasons ago, he was a member of a young, promising group that seemed destined to make a series of deep playoff runs. Now he's with a completely different team, starting over again.

"I was told when I came into the league, just look around the locker room, you won't be with these same guys down the line," George said. "Fast forward, and that's where I'm at. I'm at that point where I've had a good moment with a great and special team at that time. That's over with.

"But I'm fortunate. I'm ready to take on that role and get this team to where that team had been."

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