the fact he didnt want to meet with magic at all was definitely a head scratcher. but as a man, he still had a choice to meet with magic regardless of any drama behind it, and he chose not too. so the p***y p name will live on.
Nice theory but he sure was smiling at the party Russ threw him that first night of Free Agency. I don't buy it.
Anything that ****** nut hugger has to say about the Lakers means nothing. Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Paul George says he would've joined Lakers if Pacers didn't trade him Paul George revealed to ESPN's The Undefeated that he "would have been in a Lakers uniform" if he had never been traded from the Indiana Pacers. But after the Pacers dealt the five-time All-Star to the Oklahoma City Thunder instead last year, he fell in love with his new team and playing with Russell Westbrookbefore eventually agreeing to a four-year, $137 million contract extension this past offseason. "It was 50-50 on deciding whether I wanted to come back home or if it was smarter to be in the situation I am in now," George told The Undefeated. "But it wasn't overstated. I wanted to play in L.A. That is where I wanted to go. Had that trade never went down, had I played one more year in Indy, I would have been in a Lakers uniform." The Thunder acquired George from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for guard Victor Oladipo and forward Domantas Sabonis on July 6, 2017. Before that trade, George was most intrigued by the thought of being dealt to the Lakers. The Lakers had the key piece to make such a move as they owned the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA draft or forward Brandon Ingram, a source said. The Lakers, however, kept the No. 2 selection to draft UCLA guard Lonzo Ball and never dealt Ingram. George was disappointed that the Lakers did not value him enough to make the trade with the Pacers at the time, a source said. The Lakers hoped to meet with the Palmdale, California, native during free agency this past July in hopes of signing him. George, however, quietly made a decision to re-sign with the Thunder before free agency arrived and never met with the Lakers. The Lakers would go on to sign NBA star LeBron James as a free agent. George also told The Undefeated that he spoke with James about his possible future plans before the Thunder trade when James was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they never had a similar conversation afterward. George returns to Los Angeles for the first time since deciding to re-sign with Oklahoma City to play the LA Clippers on Friday. "Going toward the summer and going toward free agency, I kind of had my mind made up talking with the team, talking with Russ and talking with the front-office," George said. "I kind of felt good where we were at. Last [season], I didn't get a chance to start with this team fresh. I got traded late. So, I picked up things late with the team. I wanted to get to it right away this time and start creating early." It was a risky gamble for Thunder general manager Sam Presti when he traded for George. George averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game last season for the Thunder. George, Westbrook and then-teammate Carmelo Anthony, however, lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2018 NBA playoffs in six games. George could have walked away for nothing from the Thunder. But despite the Thunder's shortcomings last season, George liked what he saw for the future with Westbrook signed long term, so he re-signed. Looking back, George praised Presti for gambling on him. "It was a hell of a gamble. That was balls to go against L.A. They tried it, tested their luck and Sam came up lucky," George said. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25013590/paul-george-says-joined-lakers-traded-pacers
Moving into LeBron territory here with the self aggrandizing. "It was a hell of a gamble. That was balls to go against L.A. They tried it, tested their luck and Sam came up lucky," George said." You damn well better be a superstar to be able to carry your team when injuries hit for what he's paying you. Like now.
What a dumb a** to be saying this stuff now. Eff him and the cow he rides around on in OKC before the next tornado gets it.
I agree and not only that, it's disrespectful to his current team. Kick rocks Paul, we like you as much as that other Paul that played for the evil empire and is partial to wheelchairs. If you wanted to be a Laker, you'd be a Laker. You chose not to be a Laker. Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Paul George's insistence on keeping this topic alive is astounding and confusing. Why is he still talking about this? Why talk about it ever? At all? He made his choice, he's with his team, why is he still talking about the Lakers? It indicates regret on a deep, deep level that he's still so occupied by this decision. At least deep, deep unrest.
i actually disagree with the prevailing opinion that george is a wuss or wishy washy or any of that. i actually think he's one of the rare players who has been honest with the press throughout this situation. he wanted to go to la and planned on doing so after his contract was up. he did what he probably construed as the honorable thing when he let indy know ahead of time. in retrospect, he did them a HUGE favor, as oladipo and sabonis are way better than they probably would have fared in FA. he also did an admirable thing by not tying indy's hands and allowing them to trade him to a place that wasn't la. he probably showed up there fully expecting to play out the string and sign with the lakers, but things happened that made him comfortable there (i also think it's possible the lakers got googly eyes about other players in the interim, too). his much-maligned-in-lakerland decision not to meet with magic and rob could be construed as another honorable act: not wasting everyone's time when his mind was already made up. all that said, i do think he's still conflicted about the decision. he knows that was his last best chance to play for the lakers while he still mattered, when it would be fun. and i think it was a dream for him. but i think he keeps revisiting it because the press asks him to. in short: my take on the whole thing is that paul george seems like a guy who's trying to do the right thing, and he managed to piss off A LOT of people in the process.
I don't think any of this is wrong. I think you're 100% spot on. I do however think he could easily say "I'm not answering that question, we've been over that" and he could have done that weeks ago. I also think if his dream was truly to play in LA for the Lakers, the fact that he never even spoke to Magic or Rob is not just self destructive to his own personal goals and dreams, but frankly stupid. At least meet with the team of your dreams; especially when the meeting is with a local hero and legend in your community/field of work. How do you not meet with them? If my dream job was to work at NASA, but I already told the corporate big wigs at Target that I'd stick around for another couple years... then NASA told me "we've got an opening, want to interview for the position?" I would F***ING MEET WITH NASA! Are you kidding me?? That's my dream job! It would be hard to go back to Target and tell them "well I got this other offer", but it'd be so much better for me and for my health and for my well being mentally, physically, and emotionally. It's utter nonsense.
I think he's used to being the "good guy" and is trying to put out the fire a little with LA. I'm sure he doesn't want to be booed out of town every time he's home, which is definitely going to happen now.
Abeer I would have agreed with you BUT This espn documentary was dumb, idiotic, unnecessary and simply wrong. That makes him a wuss to me. At least he should have had the balls to be straight forward and tell what he wants. He recently said it was clear to him going into the off-season he would risign with okc. Why in hell would you do an idiotic documentary acting like you are torn and seek advice and have no clue what to do and then resign without even interviewing with the Lakers and then try to justify yourself for months for a decision you are assumingly convinced was the right one. I'm sorry, that's worse to me than LeDesicion. He is a wuss and wants to be loved by everyone. Doesn't even have the balls to stand by it months after it is made. That's why he has become a PR spin lately loving the Lakers publicly at every chance. If he had Mamba mentality, he didn't give a s*** about what we think of him and he could and would never have resigned earlier ending this farce.
To add to what Real and KB24 said...dude sat back and didn't retract that "hellbent to LA" narrative. He took in and embraced our "recruitment" to how LA treated him when he came thru Staples center...how we gave his parents/family court side seats...how we opened up 2max spots so that he can play with a star like Westbrook here in LA. Abeer, I know Nance was your guy too, but we had to ship him to get off of JC's deal to open up enough of that 2nd max spot, post Deng stretch. He just sat back and let all this s*** happen and when it was legal, he doesn't even sit down to break bread with us and tell us how he appreciated all the gestures (including forking over 500k in tampering fined)...s***, he didn't even come face to face with Bshaw (his mentor) to break the news that he wasn't coming. Abeer, I appreciate your psych evaluation on oh girl, but I respectfully disagree with some of it.
I'd like to think that his agent had a lot to do with those shenanigans that led to the backlash against him.
