Kawhi Leonard ‘Excited’ to Play with Paul George

Three-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard says that the opportunity to play with Paul George persuaded him to sign with the Clippers.

During his week as a free agent, Kawhi Leonard also held talks with the Lakers and the Toronto Raptors. 

Kawhi Leonard says he was ‘very close’ to signing with his now crosstown rivals, the Lakers. Ultimately, the chance to play alongside six-time All-Star Paul George was too much to turn down. 

During his introductory press conference, Leonard said as a Southern California native, he’s always wanted to play with George. 

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“I was very close. Real close,” Leonard said. 

“But when (the Clippers) presented the opportunity of playing with Paul it was easy, it was a yes. I said let’s get it going.

“This is probably going to be my first time playing with an elite player on his level around the same age as me, same talent,” Leonard said. 

“I’m excited.”

Ex Lakers president Magic Johnson made a few headlines during his messy exit from that role. One of those was a leak about his meeting with Leonard. 

Reports suggested that Leonard was turned off the Lakers by this. Other reports speculate that Leonard intentionally lead them on in order to make them miss other free agent targets. 

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According to the man himself, neither of those allegations are true. 

“I just feel like that’s just bad karma,” Leonard said in reference to manipulating teams. “If they didn’t want to wait for me, they didn’t have to. They had a big opportunity to sign me. I was close, but I ended up on the other side.”

Meanwhile, Paul George explained how his Clippers move came around. Upon agreeing a new four year deal in 2018, he and the OKC had an understanding that he would move on after one year.

“This was nothing that came out of the blue,” George said. 

“The initial plan was to give it another year, see what we could do. I did that. Played another year, and it felt like we were just stagnant. Next thing was, let’s go forward and go on with other plans.”