It’s been over 2 months since Paul George’s blockbuster decision to stay another 4 years in Oklahoma City alongside friend and teammate Russell Westbrook, and there is still drama regarding his choice. The decision was made on July 6th, right after free agency opened up and Westbrook had a party where George announced his decision. And while many speculated that PG would return home to Los Angeles, where he grew up and went to school, it was revealed that George had never actually even scheduled a meeting with the Lakers and that PG already knew he was going to return to the Thunder weeks before free agency opened up. Well, the 5-time All-Star had this to say about how the Lakers reacted to his decision on Chris Pfaff’s Short Story Long podcast:
“L.A. was pissed at me. I didn’t give Magic [Johnson] a [meeting], which hi understand. But at that point, I knew I wanted to give it another shot. I didn’t want to prolong it and waste people’s time.”
The reason this story has really blown up is that PG had been linked to the Lakers since the previous offseason (back in 2017). PG mentioned that he desired to play for the Lakers in the final episode of My Journey, George’s ESPN documentary:
“I 100 percent appreciate Laker Nation for wanting me to come back home, wanting me to play in front of them. I wanted to come here a year ago, prior to going to OKC. Unfortunately, wasn’t traded to the Lakers. Lakers didn’t grab me. I was traded to Oklahoma, and that has been a beautiful thing for me.”
George was aware that 3-time champion LeBron James was going to play for the Lakers, yet he felt that OKC was where he needed to be, which I admire. The man passed up on the opportunity to play with one of the greatest players in the history of the game to remain dedicated to his current team and pursue a championship without needing to join an upgraded roster.
“Coming down to free agency, I didn’t want to waste any time,” he said. “I wanted to give it another shot. I gave them one year. We played well against the best teams. I wanted to give it a real shot.”
Well, it seems like he’ll be giving “it a real shot” for the next 4 years, because PG signed a $137 million contract extension for that period of time. Last season, George averaged 21.9 PPG on 43.0% from the floor and 40.1% from 3-point land to go along with 5.7 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.0 SPG, and .5 BPG. However, the team wasn’t able to overcome the first round of the playoffs and lost to the Utah Jazz in a 6 game series.
But this year’s roster is much different than last year’s. The team let go of some key players like Carmelo Anthony but got new firepower in return like Dennis Schroder. I have high expectations for this team; I felt like Melo weighed down the potential of what PG and Westbrook would be capable of, and now that he’s out of the picture, expect this dynamic duo to really put on a show in the Western Conference.
Feature Image via Flikr/Towne Post Network
