Kawhi Leonard Breaks Silence on Paul George Decision

It has been an interesting offseason for the Los Angeles Clippers, who will enter a new era of basketball and arena next season, without Paul George. 

After months of negotiations and rumors, the All-Star forward left Los Angeles, which he never wanted to do, and signed a four-year max deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. With George now in Philadelphia, the Clippers have no choice but to lean on Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as they try to compete in the Western Conference.

The 33-year-old Leonard was asked about George leaving for Philadelphia in free agency at Team USA training camp. Leonard reportedly declined to answer the question, stating that he was there to talk about Team USA, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

However, Bontemps adds Leonard clarified he didn’t have a problem with George’s decision, but wanted to keep the focus on the US Men’s National Team.

It’s not surprising to see Leonard take that stance, as he was likely privy to what was happening behind the scenes with George and his situation with the Clippers. As a matter of fact, George talked about his conversation with Leonard before deciding to leave LA on the latest episode of the Podcast P show.

"Absolutely. I owed Kawhi that conversation. I called him up and was like man, listen. You know, I think I’ma go elsewhere. Conversations with the Clippers didn’t go how I wanted to."

- Paul George

“And I was like man, like I gotta do what’s best,” he continued. George added that Leonard understood and was like “Go get your bag, I can’t even be mad at you.”

George views Leonard as his best friend in the league, and Leonard likely feels the same way about him. However, without having George playing alongside him, Leonard will have to do a lot of heavy lifting for a Clippers’ squad, whose second-best player is Harden, which won’t be an easy task.

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