What's the reasoning for Paul George's playoff decline from Indiana?

[Dutchball97]

I remember thinking Paul George would be a MVP and future champ when was with Indiana. Just goes to show not every promising young star takes that next step.

[LukaTheGOAT]

I would argue health and role. In Indiana, he was the undisputed #1 guy and got his shots whenever he wanted. In 2019, despite the shoulder troubles that plagued him the latter half of the season, I did think he was good against Portland (could've been better with full health). He actually was pretty good against the Jazz outside of one game (and if I am correct he had some injury issue then too). Westbrook being with him probably wasn't always ideal for him always getting his shots when he wanted.

Then he moves to LA and he once again come playoff time talked about some soreness in the shoulders come PS, as well as depression he was going through when he was playing in the Dallas series. He played well after he "turned off Instagram," and generally played well in the Nuggets series when he wasn't in foul trouble except for game 7.

George just doesn't seem to be able to avoid having extraneous factors affecting him or at least he does not have the resilience to stop those things from bothering him. I suppose that certain mentalities can really prevent players from taking the next step.