Paul George isn't the same player as Al Horford, yet since he was traded to the Boston Celtics, he's garnered comparisons to Horford quite a few times. Because George is around the same age Horford was (when they brought him back) when Boston brought him, a common narrative was that he was going to be handled with care like Horford.
The Celtics surprisingly haven't done that (for the most part), but George also had the chance to prove what Horford did when the latter came back to Boston: that he wasn't washed up. With the season an eighth of the way over, George has done just that, more or less mimicking Horford.
More than that, though, the reason why many had their doubts about George was the same reason why many had their doubts about Horford when the Celtics re-acquired him: neither of them had the best tenures with the 76ers.
Horford was so laughably bad that before they cut ties, he was coming off the bench. Because he was the jack-of-all-trades game-changer in Boston, Philly thought his fit would be that seamless, but his disastrous time there proved that what worked with the Celtics was just as much about them putting him in that position to succeed as it was about his talent.
By contrast, George wasn't as bad as Horford with the 76ers, but for someone they paid over $50 million a year, he missed a lot of games and wasn't putting up Paul George numbers. Sure, he played an undeniable role in beating Boston, but like Horford, Sixers fans weren't exactly losing sleep over parting ways with him.
And because both of them became Celtics when their reps were in the toilet, there wasn't much upfront optimism when they joined Boston. Like Horford, George has taken absolutely no time to prove that the washed allegations were very much a lie.
"One team's trash is another team's holy grail"
George isn't putting up the All-Star numbers he used to in Indiana, OKC, and Los Angeles, but he's not too far off. Better yet, Boston isn't asking him to. They are only asking him to be the perfect in Mazzulla Ball. After nine games, it's clear that he does.
Much like Horford did when he first came back, though technically his first year was under Ime Udoka. In all fairness, Horford's and George's paths haven't followed the exact same track. Horford did spend a year with the Thunder, but no one was paying attention because they were tanking. Because everyone except Brad Stevens wasn't watching, everyone thought of his disastrous Philly tenure when the trade was announced.
Another difference is that despite Horford proving that there was more in his tank than initially thought, the Celtics' season did not start great. He was a bright spot in a frustratingly mediocre year to start. Of course, it didn't remain that way, with much of it being because of how good Horford was.
This season has been different. This Celtics team burst out of the gate - to be fair, their schedule has been a breeze - and George has had a lot to do with it. All he needed was the right team to get him to play at his best. It's clear that said team certainly wasn't Philadelphia, but certainly was Boston.
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