Paul George didn't really have much to say about his exit with the Indiana Pacers in 2017, which ended his seven-year stint. In an appearance on Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson's All The Smoke podcast, the Los Angeles Clippers superstar revisited the events that led to the ugly breakup.
George said he was already unhappy with his name being dragged to multiple trade rumors that year. But the final straw was when Pacers officials reportedly shut down a potential trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that would have sent Anthony Davis to the team and join PG-13.
“We had a top 3 player in the league at this time, a power forward, that I was trying to get to come to Indy. He wanted to come. I bring it to the front office and they denied it. It was AD. Me and AD talk. AD wanted to come to Indy, it was close to Chicago.”
George and Davis would've been a devastating duo. But when it failed to materialize, George's relationship with the squad that picked him 10th overall in 2010 apparently turned sour after that.
Paul George reveals he and Anthony Davis had talks to bring AD to the Indiana Pacers, but the Pacers' front office killed it.
He says this, combined with his own name being in trade talks, is why he wanted to leave Indiana. pic.twitter.com/c74TbCdJ0c
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) December 10, 2020
Paul George soon got his wish to leave the Pacers when they traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. The Thunder took a huge risk considering George was set to enter free agency after that season. The six-time All-Star eventually signed a four-year, $137 million extension.
But he once again changed his mind a year later and demanded another trade to his hometown with the Clippers, where he recently inked a massive $190 million extension.
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