Paul George Takes Shot At NBA Referees On Instagram After Questionable Charge Call Against Boston Celtics

Since teaming up with Kawhi Leonard and joining the Los Angeles Clippers, things haven’t exactly gone to plan for Paul George.

Either he or Leonard is seeming always injured and the duo has yet to advance beyond the Western Conference Finals in 2020-21, a year where Leonard missed most of the playoffs.

This year, LA entered the new NBA season as one of the hot favorites to win the Larry O’Brien Championship. But it’s been much of the same thus far. The Clips are 21-16 and sit fourth in the Western Conference, but both George and Leonard have missed significant time already due to injuries or “maintenance days.”

The pair each played, and played well, in Thursday night’s showdown against the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. But it wasn’t enough for LA to come out on top, as the Celtics took a 116-110 victory.

With Boston leading 100-97 mid-way through the fourth quarter, George drove on Celtics guard Marcus Smart. He then made the slightest bit of contact with Smart and the helping Jaylen Brown. At which point, both Smart and Brown went crumbling to the ground like a ton of bricks.

The officials called a charge on the play, sending the ball back over to Boston. George was unhappy and it was as close as the Clips would get for the rest of the contest.

The seven-time NBA All-Star took to Instagram after the game to share his displeasure.

“Are the refs fined for these,” he said while posting a picture of both Smart and Brown falling simultaneously.

Because the play happened so early in the fourth quarter, it won’t be part of the game’s last-two-minute report by the NBA. But if George was strong enough to knock over both Smart and Brown, he’s clearly back to full strength and then some.