Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George clarified reports about his interest in playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, saying his desire to play for the Purple and Gold has been “blown out of proportion”. In an interview with Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, George admitted that he grew up as a Lakers and a Clippers fan and playing for the Lakers will be a dream come true. However, George said reports about joining the Lakers are “overstated”, saying it will be all about winning for him.
George also stressed that if the Thunder make the conference finals or beat the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, “I’d be dumb to want to leave that”.
It was reported that George plans to joins the Lakers when he turns free agent after the coming season.
Durant gave Thunder a strong endorsement
Though he was heavily criticized in Oklahoma City for joining the Warriors last season, Kevin Durant still gave the Thunder a strong endorsement during his conversation with George. George, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, said Durant told him that Oklahoma City “will blow you away”. Durant even told him that the Thunder can offer him the best things that other squads cannot give to their players, such as facility, chefs and meals. George said Durant still sees the Thunder as a first-class organization in every way.
George sought Durant’s opinion about Oklahoma City after the Indiana Pacers traded him to the Thunder recently for guard Victor Oladipo and power forward Domantas Sabonis.
The trade came as a surprise since no report surfaced that the Thunder were interested in George, who will team up with a full-fledged superstar in Russell Westbrook.
Durant played his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder but he bolted Oklahoma City and signed with the Warriors last July. Durant went on to win his first NBA title last month after leading the Warriors over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals.
George lamented Pacers’ inability to build championship team
George said the Pacers’ inability to build a championship team influenced his decision not to sign an extension with the team. George said he loves Indiana and he wants to bring a championship to the city 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."
George has one year with the Thunder to gauge if they have the tools to win the championship that he covets.
After the coming season, George will become an unrestricted free agent. Last season, the 6-foot-9 George averaged a career-high 23.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 75 games (all starts) with Indiana.
