Pacers' Paul George to change jersey number, become 'PG-13'

Paul George is changing his jersey number to 13, prompting sports commentators to eagerly await his christening as 'PG-13.'

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George is changing his jersey number to 13, prompting sports commentators to eagerly await his christening as "PG-13."

George asked the NBA for permission to change his number from 24 to 13. The league granted him permission, league sources told ESPN's Darren Rovell. 

It is unclear if the switch is a recent or long-planned change for George, or if it is part of some wider rebranding effort at all.  But according to Rovell, ESPN's Bill Simmons publicly suggested in May 2013 George should change his number to 13, in part so it would enable him to develop a nickname based around a common movie rating. 

George has dropped hints of something involving the number 13 recently, using some variation of 'trece' multiple times. Trece is Spanish for 13. 

The number change comes at a time when George won't be playing basketball for the foreseeable future. George is expected to be sidelined well into 2015 with a broken leg suffered in a horrific injury in a USA Basketball scrimmage on Aug. 1.

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- Will Green