Speaking on his podcast ‘The Draymond Green Show,’ the 4x NBA champion spoke up about some of the latest developments across the league. In one particularly passionate segment, he put the Los Angeles Clippers on blast for not “playing ball” with their franchise guy.
“Paul George’s tenure there as far as All-NBAs and All-Stars is not too far off from the best Clippers of all-time. And to not be willing to play ball on the sign-and-trade where he wanted to go… he’s one of the best players in your organization’s history. I just don’t really want to hear people saying like, ‘That guy wasn’t loyal.’ Nah, most of these organizations ain’t loyal. This is not a loyal business. You have players sometimes that want to do what they think is best for them and teams aren’t really willing to play ball. and when you’ll take nothing as opposed to something — you don’t want to talk loyalty, people.”
"Most of these organizations ain't loyal"
—@Money23Green on the Clippers not doing right by Paul George pic.twitter.com/gNxQRO9miJ
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) July 3, 2024
Paul George was set to be the summer’s top free agent and various teams were looking to lure him away from the Clippers, where he had previously played for five years. According to Draymond, George initially wanted to secure a sign-and-trade with the Warriors so he could join Steph and Draymond on a championship run. But after the Clippers refused to concede, George chose the 76ers instead to team up with Joel Embiid on a four-year, $212 million deal.
And while some supported George in this process, others did not take so kindly to implying that he deserved anything more than he got.
Totally. Be loyal to a player that spent only five years there, was always hurt, and completely underwhelmed. And in the process, choose to screw over your fans by taking a path that puts you in a far worse position than letting him walk. Yeah, that makes total sense to do.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) July 3, 2024
George, 34, averaged 23.0 points per game as a Clipper and he led them further than they’ve ever been before (the West Finals). After half a decade of being one of their best players, many fans and experts were convinced that the Clippers would never let George go.
But that’s exactly what they did this summer and it’s obvious they didn’t feel like it was worth it to financially handicap themselves for the foreseeable future. At least, with George’s contract off the books, the Clippers have more flexibility to improve around the edges to add some additional role-players who can make up for what they lost. It might just cost them some wins in the meantime.
As for the 9x All-Star himself, it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get the kind of run he was hoping for with Kawhi but he has a chance to change the narrative forever. If George and Embiid can lead the 76ers to a championship together, it will change everything about how the duo is remembered.
If they somehow fail to make a significant run, the Clippers will be the ones feeling some regret over how they let such a prized swingman leave them behind with nothing in return. They traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for him and a haul of picks just to get him and now he’s gone with nothing to show for it.
It’s a right shame how this all turned out for the Clippers and there’s got to be a sense of disappointment that the era of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard never had their moment to shine.
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