For a fleeting moment during the offseason, it looked like Kawhi Leonard could have been headed to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Of course, in the midnight hour of Leonard trying to make his decision, the Los Angeles Clippers swung a trade to acquire Paul George, which was enough to convince Leonard to join the Clippers that same night.
Now, Leonard and the Clippers will face the Lakers in their season opener on Tuesday night, and, as expected, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were peppered with questions about their recruitment of Leonard during the whole process.
As usual, James was pretty tight-lipped when asked about the situation, declining to go into any detail about conversations he and Leonard had, per Mark Medina of USA TODAY Sports.
He did, however, say that he had hope the Lakers would end up landing Leonard because he is a “positive guy” but was ultimately not surprised when the two-time Finals MVP ultimately chose to sign with the Clippers, via Lakers writer Kyle Goon.
Meanwhile, Davis was a bit more open about the recruiting process than James, saying it was “fun,” but adding that there wasn't much to it because Leonard “doesn't talk much,” via Medina.
Like James, Davis said he was not surprised by Leonard's decision.
Leonard grew up a Clippers fan in California, so it seems like the Clips were his preferred destination all along provided that they were able to give him an environment where he thought he could win, and the George trade did just that.
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