Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George knew he was going to leave the Indiana Pacers, but coming to the OKC was a surprise to many. Golden State Warriors superstar and Finals MVP Kevin Durant reportedly sold George on the idea of playing in OKC.
“KD was like, ‘That place will blow you away,'” George told Sports Illustrated. “He told me, ‘They can offer what other teams can’t in terms of the people and the preparation and the facility, down to the chefs and the meals.’ He was pretty high on them. He thought it was a first-class organization in every way.”
The Pacers ended up receiving Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis from the trade, resulting in George going to OKC. The Pacers realized that they needed to get something in return for their former all-star.
“There’s no right way to handle it,” George told Sports Illustrated. “I get the frustration. I get why people are upset. But at the same time, I want the average fan to understand that we only get a small window to play this game, and more than anything, you want to be able to play for a championship. I wanted to bring that to Indiana. I really did. I love Indiana. That will always be a special place for me, and I’m sorry for not holding on. But I wasn’t sure we’d ever get a team together to compete for a championship, and that’s where all this came from.”
Ironically enough, when Durant left the Thunder to play for the Warriors, he won his first title.
George also told Sports Illustrated that his overall goal is to contend and win a championship. With that being said, George is implying that the Lakers will not offer him that at all.
“I want to be in a good system, a good team. I want a shot to win it,” he said. “I’m not a stats guy. I’m playing this game to win and build a legacy of winning. I’ve yet to do that. I’m searching for it. If we get a killer season in Oklahoma, we make the conference finals or upset the Warriors or do something crazy, I’d be dumb to want to leave that.”
