This past summer the Los Angeles Clippers signed Paul George in a blockbuster trade deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder that landed the team both George and reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. As reported by ESPN, George revealed that he had wanted to join forces with Leonard for a while and even considered playing for the San Antonio Spurs. Unfortunately, the Spurs were unable to meet up to PG’s expectations.
“I wanted to be traded to San Antonio. We wanted to go to San Antonio first, and we didn’t make that happen,” George said. “Since that moment, we were trying to pair up with one another. We were trying to make it work. I had obligations that I wanted to come back to Oklahoma and give it another shot, and then I felt that I needed to move on. I needed to go in another direction and I needed to at that point do what I wanted to do my whole career.”
George is from the L.A. area and has always wanted to play for his hometown. After countless attempts at signing both Leonard and PG, the Los Angeles Clippers finally found a way to join both forces setting themselves up to be legitimate title contenders. Now that George is back home he commented on what it’s like to play for his home town and talked about his wishes to end his career with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Not a lot of people get to say they played back home and honestly, I’m hoping that this is the closing of my journey to be able to finish here in LA. It’s a great chapter, great last part of my book, hopefully. And I’m looking forward to doing big things here,” George said in an interview posted by Jovan Buha of Forbes.
Paul George: “Not a lot of people get to say they played back home and honestly, I’m hoping that this is the closing of my journey to be able to finish here in LA. It’s a great chapter, great last part of my book, hopefully. And I’m looking forward to doing big things here.”
Paul George’s NBA Career
Paul George with Oklahoma City Thunder .
PG-13 was the 10th overall pick of the 2010 Draft by the Indiana Pacers. George spent seven seasons with the Pacers and averaged 16.4 points, 2.8 assists and six rebounds per game. George was competing to become a member of the United States national team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup when he broke his leg in 2014. Due to his injury George only played six games during the 2014-2015 season with the Pacers. Upon his return in the 2015-2016 season, George became an NBA All Star for the second time and won an Olympic gold medal.
In 2017, PG was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder where he spent two seasons of his career. During his time with the Thunder, the six-time All Star averaged 25 points, 7.4 assists and 7 rebounds a game. In 2019 George was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, but due to surgeries on both of his shoulders, George sat out for the first 11 games of the season. Upon his highly anticipated return, George came out hot and set two franchise records. He is now the first to score 30-plus points in his two first games back and his 37 points in 20 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks was a franchise record for a home debut, according to CBS Sports.
George has played four games so far this season and is currently averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. The Clippers are scheduled to host the Houston Rockets tonight for a rematch. Last week the Clippers lost to the Rockets, 102-93, but didn’t have George on the court yet. According to the Clippers’ latest injury report both George and Leonard are healthy. Therefore, the Rockets are expected to compete against the team’s dynamic duo.
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Paul George Reveals Long-Term Outlook With Clippers