Paul Cliftonantho George is an American professional basketball player currently affiliated with the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Oklahoma City Thunder. He plays as a small forward, one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A native of California, he was raised in a family that encouraged athletic excellence. As a youth interested in playing basketball, he found his inspiration in Kobe Bryant. George received his first instruction in the game from his older sister. It was only in his freshman year in high school that he started playing organised basketball. He then went on to play for the varsity basketball team in the last three years of high school and later appeared in two seasons of college basketball. In the 2010 NBA draft, he was chosen by the Indiana Pacers as the 10th overall pick and he clinched the NBA All-Rookie Second Team honours in 2011. George played seven seasons for the Pacers, during which he was hailed as the NBA Most Improved Player in 2013 and was included in the NBA All-Star team four times. In July 2017, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he also made it to the All-Star team. George was part of the gold-medal-winning US basketball delegation to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.