--- description: Paul George deleted and apologized for his tweets after immediate backlash title: Ray Rice: Paul George Defends NFL Star image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # NBA Star Defends Ray Rice in Controversial and Quickly Deleted Tweets by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2014 4:04 PM CUT by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2014 4:04 PM CUT Indiana Pacers star Paul George deleted and apologized for controversial—and quickly criticized—tweets Thursday morning that defended disgraced former Batlimore Ravens star Ray Rice against public condemnation for domestic abuse. Here are screen grabs of the now-deleted tweets, analyzing Janay Rice’s role in the attack. He excused the elevator attack both because Janay forgave him: > [](https://twitter.com/dathumanbeing/status/510081730083291136) And because she allegedly provoked him: > [](https://twitter.com/LowKey%5F%5FB/status/510089769691652096) The NBA player then apologized: > [](https://twitter.com/Yg%5FTrece/status/510063178777362432) Since the release of a video showing Rice knocking his wife unconscious in a casino elevator, Twitter has become a key platform to discuss domestic violence—[inspiring hashtags including #WhyILeft and #WhyIStayed](http://time.com/3309687/why-women-stay-in-abusive-relationships/ "undefined") to shed light on the mindset of victims of abuse. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/"},"headline":"NBA Star Defends Ray Rice in Controversial and Quickly Deleted Tweets","datePublished":"2014-09-11T16:04:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:08:04.133Z","description":"Paul George deleted and apologized for his tweets after immediate backlash","url":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/","keywords":["NFL","Basketball","NBA","ray rice"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/","name":"NBA Star Defends Ray Rice in Controversial and Quickly Deleted Tweets"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ravens Coach John Harbough on Ray Rice Suspension","description":"Baltimore Ravens head coach, John Harbough talks about the Ray Rice incident on Monday 8 Sept., 2014.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/C7iqNfTv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-09T04:13:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/C7iqNfTv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/","duration":"PT36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3328015/ray-rice-paul-george/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```