Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder head to the bright lights of STAPLES Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a primetime matchup on Wednesday night. However, according to PG, he might’ve preferred to be on the home team for this matchup.
All was said was a destination I would love to go to,” George said to The Oklahoman’s Erik Horne. “There wasn’t gun pointed to the head ‘send me here.’ I just stated somewhere I wanted to go play. You ask 80, 70 percent of the guys in the league if they’d love to go back home and play for their city, for their home … that’s all I stated. I would have loved to go back home and play for my city. So, no regrets at all. I thought this trade that went down was a win-win for both sides, and I’m happy we both moved on.”
“You’ve got your stars courtside, it’s a historic building, the energy is great,” George said when asked about what’s special about playing in L.A. “And it’s a chance to really showcase yourself in one of the highest, best markets. It just so happens that that’s home for me, so there’s family, there’s friends, there’s teachers, people I grew up around. It’s just a nice environment for me.”
George has been linked to the Lakers since last season when he was a member of the Indiana Pacers. While he has never stated clearly he wants to play in L.A, the Thunder forward has never been quick to shoot down the rumors.
George, however, spoke highly of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony and how much they’ve improved this season.
“Being out there with Melo, with Russ, the talent we have … it’s crazy to think of where we can get to the more we build. We’ve only been together a couple of months.”
If the Lakers think they can poach George from the Thunder this offseason, they’re going to have to do a lot more winning than they are now. PG wants to win championships, and right now, he has a better chance to do that in Oklahoma City than the City of Angels.
