Ty Lue on Dudley's Criticism of Paul George: “Who cares what people say?"

The LA Clippers head coach had some words of advice for his star.

© Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Clippers Head Coach Tyronn Lue had some words of encouragement for Paul George, who recently received criticism from Laker Jared Dudley. During his pregame press conference for their matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lue offered the following advice to George.

"Who cares?” he asked rhetorically. “Who cares what people say, just be who you are."

The advice came in response to an excerpt from Dudley’s new book “Inside the NBA Bubble”, in which he gives his opinion on George (and attempts to speak for the entirety of the Lakers roster):

“But we think it’s disrespectful for Paul George, who hasn’t won, to put himself on the level of Bron and AD. This motivates us. When we see those guys around the compound, we don’t really kick it with them. The one exception of course is Markieff, whose twin brother, Marcus, is on the Clippers. This probably keeps tensions from boiling over.”

The Clippers-Lakers rivalry has been a muddy one, despite the two teams never meeting in a playoff series. It has yet to be confirmed if this is a sementent shared by the rest of the Lakers, but Dudley was not shy about conveying the team’s supposed discontent with George. LeBron James has given respect to George in the past, going back to their playoff rivalry when George played for Indiana and James played for Miami. Perhaps his opinions have changed since then.

This is not the first time Tyronn Lue has defended George from criticism, and it likely won’t be the last. It seems that until the Clippers prove themselves in the postseason and resolve their issues from last year, naysayers will continue to come out of the woodwork.

George has yet to comment on the criticism.