This offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers were looking to become an NBA contender by bringing in two big free agents, including LeBron James and possibly Paul George. The latter didn’t even give Magic Johnson a chance and chose to stay in Oklahoma City to play with Russell Westbrook.
According to PG13, the Lakers were pissed they didn’t even get a chance to give him a pitch and ultimately, he didn’t want to waste their time because his decision was made.
He told this to the Short Story Long podcast:
“L.A. was pissed at me. I didn’t give Magic [Johnson] a meeting, which I understand. But at that point, I knew I wanted to give it another shot [in Oklahoma City]. I didn’t want to prolong it and waste people’s time.
Coming down to free agency, I didn’t want to waste any time. I wanted to give it another shot. I gave them one year. We played well against the best teams. I wanted to give it a real shot.”
Obviously, it was a surprise that the Thunder actually retained George, but the fact the Lakers had no chance (after he said he wanted to play there) was truly shocking. L.A. may have been too confident that they could get PG13 during free agency and he may have felt slighted they didn’t chase his services a bit more.
At the end of the day, he didn’t want to play on his third team in three years, so he chose to make things work in OKC with an MVP. You can’t knock him.
Which team will do better next year, though? The Thunder or the Lakers?
OS REWIND: Paul George Reveals Why He Chose to Stay with the Thunder