The Boston Celtics officially welcomed Paul George on Tuesday. Accompanied by his family at the Auerbach Center, the nine-time All-Star was all smiles as he debuted his new jersey amid the assembled media.
Notably, George will revert to wearing No. 13 after wearing No. 8 with the Philadelphia 76ers (the Sixers retired No. 13 in honor of Wilt Chamberlain). As seen below, the Celtics confirmed George’s new number by calling him “Trece” — Spanish for 13.
Celtics Coin New Nickname for PG-13
Furthermore, the Celtics seemingly coined a new nickname for George, referring to him as “Parquet P” — a nod to his previous monikers like “Playoff P” and “Podcast P.”
For those unaware, the Celtics’ famous “parquet” floor at TD Garden gets its name from a traditional French woodworking technique that locks small pieces of wood into a checkerboard pattern. Legend says a post-World War II lumber shortage in 1946 forced original owner Walter Brown to build the court from scrap Tennessee red oak sourced from local Boston lumberyards.
While the Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic also use distinct parquet designs on their courts, the Celtics remain the only team to play on a court made of red oak, not maple.
As such, “Parquet P” may just be the perfect nickname for the newest Celtic.
Photos: Paul George & Family Arrive at Celtics HQ
As seen below, George and his family — wife Daniela and children Olivia, Natasha and Paul Vuk — were in attendance at the Celtics HQ to support the veteran wing.
Celtics Excited to Start New Chapter
While a lot of Celtics fans remain skeptical about the move involving Jaylen Brown and Paul George, the organization itself is thrilled to onboard George, who played a key role in the 76ers defeating them in the first round of the playoffs last season.
In fact, several analysts feel George — a knockdown three-point shooter and versatile perimeter defender — would be a seamless fit in Joe Mazzulla’s system despite his age. The Celtics saw firsthand that George, 36, can still be a valuable contributor after he shot 55.8% from three-point range during the seven-game series against them in April.
“Paul’s a really good player,” Celtics front-office boss Brad Stevens said this week while addressing the trade with the 76ers.
“We’re not very far removed from all sitting in our series against Philadelphia and watching Paul be a guy that could carry you for portions of a quarter or a half, but also play a complementary role on both ends of the floor at the highest of levels.
“He’s excited to come to Boston,” Stevens said of George. “He actually already came in this weekend, and we’re excited to get a chance to work with him.”
Some Celtics fans have already lauded George as a team player after he waived his trade kicker (amounting to $3.6M) to help the franchise with additional cap flexibility.
Now, the jury is out on whether the 36-year-old can fill the void left by Jaylen Brown and serve as the No. 2 to franchise star Jayson Tatum.
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