Paul George recently stated that he doesn't get the respect he deserves for his defensive work and is frustrated with constantly being overlooked in that conversation.

The four-time All-Star is certainly considered among the best defenders in the league and has been selected to the NBA's All-Defensive Team on three occasions in his career already.

With the way he's currently playing on that end of the floor for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season, it looks like a realistic possibility that he will receive another nod.

The small forward is currently leading the league in steals with a career-high 2.84 per game and has been a huge reason behind the team being ranked among the top five best defenses in the league.

In a recent encounter with the Orlando Magic, George came up against his former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel who played a big part in developing him.

With Vogel at the helm, the Pacers were a defensive-minded team and his philosophy helped to make PG13 an elite defender during the six years they worked together.

The Magic coach has been impressed with the work the 27-year-old has been doing in a Thunder uniform this year and threw some extremely high praise in his direction in regards to his number of steals this year.

"I’ve always called it Allen Iverson’s instincts in Scottie Pippen’s body (with George) and he’s just got a knack for getting into the passing lanes, whether it’s deflecting the pass or ripping the ball out of guy’s hands or mixing it up inside. He’s always had a knack for it.’’

It's a valid comparison as the two Hall of Famers also led the league in steals during their careers.

Pippen was able to get himself a steals crown in 1994-95 when his 232 steals and 2.94 average made him number one in that particular year. Iverson won three consecutive steals titles (2000-03).

George is on course to emulate the two greats as Oklahoma City's length easily allows him to read the game better and anticipate things quicker.

On Friday night, however, it was his offense that did the talking as he put in a huge performance to help his team snap a miserable three-game losing streak.

The All-NBA forward posted 36 points, four rebounds, nine assists and three blocks.

He may not have found it easy to integrate with Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony easily so far this year but he has found ways to be effective on both ends of the floor and that is a testament to just how much of a talented all-around player he is.