How is it that pro-athletes can be both super-gifted in their sport and super-talented with things outside of their craft?
Nowadays, it’s pretty normal to see a former athlete transition into media after their playing days are over. We’ve seen it a lot in football, where Tom Brady is supposedly taking over as a FOX announcer at some point (if he wants to), and we’ve seen it in basketball as well, with former sharpshooter J.J. Redick stepping right off the court and right into a media role.
However, in the modern age of “instant everything,” a lot of athletes are getting into the media game while they are still playing.
The invention of podcasts (who doesn’t have one at this point?) has helped this trend, and has led NBA players like Draymond Green and Paul George to have wildly successful business ventures in media on top of their NBA playing duties.
If the name Paul George isn’t familiar to you, the talented forward played his younger years as an Indiana Pacer, before playing a shorter 3-year stint in Oklahoma City, and has now been a member of the Los Angeles Clippers since 2019.
The eight-time All-Star is a natural out on the court, and he also seems to be a natural behind a microphone. Paul George started a podcast called “Podcast P” earlier this year, which is a play on his post-season nickname “Playoff P.” The Los Angeles Clipper has fellow players stop in for a lot of the episodes, but on this recent one, he busted out a pretty impressive impersonation.
His co-host asked him to break into his Charles Barkley impression, and Paul George went into it without skipping a beat. It’s almost as if Sir Charles is sitting in studio with them as George says:
“Jackie, the thing about it, let me tell you. See, back when I played, you almost had to chuck a guy when he got hot or foul him or put him on his ass.
But these guys now are just too soft.”
Honestly, that’s something that Chuck himself has probably said 100 times. Paul George absolutely nailed it, and it might be the first Charles Barkley impersonation where the person doesn’t use the word “terrible” to get into it.
Take a look:
