In a recent episode of his podcast, Podcast P with Paul George presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George had DeMar DeRozan as his guest. During the interview, the two stars found one thing in common between them, which in truth, wasn't exactly very nice. As they realized in their conversation, both George and DeRozan actually had a very similar LeBron James shared experience.
It was DeRozan who spilled first by saying that it was LeBron's dominance with the Cleveland Cavaliers that eventually led to DeMar's departure from the Toronto Raptors. As soon as LeBron hit that game-winning one-legged jumper at the buzzer of Game 3 in the East Semis back in 2018, DeRozan knew that his time in Toronto was done.
Upon his own admission, Paul George also revealed that it was also LeBron who played a pivotal role in his decision to leave the Indiana Pacers as a free agent back in 2017:
“I think he put me away, too,” George said. “… That was my last time in Indy. He got me up outta there too. … They swept us. 4-0.”
Paul George was referring to the Pacers' first-round exit at the hands of LeBron and the Cavs during the 2017 NBA Playoffs. That also happened to be the second straight year Indiana got bounced in the opening round. Incidentally, it was DeRozan's Raptors who took the Pacers out the previous year.
After getting utterly humiliated by LeBron and the Cavs in 2017, George decided to pack his bags and take his talents to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a free agent. Based on his story here, it wouldn't be insane to think that PG may have extended his stay with the Pacers had it not been for LeBron James.