Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George is used to being the little brother.
Whether it was to former teammate Danny Granger or on-and-off adversary LeBron James, George has repeatedly played the role of the less successful star. Even the less popular star.
Maybe that's what drew him to the Clippers, a team where he's even the second option so long as two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is healthy.
The Clippers are considered the little brothers to the more successful and more popular Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise that whose history fans are quick to recite:
17 league championships; the infamous careers of players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; the NBA's all-time record for the longest winning streak (33 games).
For these reasons, and many others, George believes that “a championship with the Clippers 100% will outweigh a championship being with the Lakers” (per GQ Sports' Joseph Bien-Kahn).
Article Continues BelowA team with no championships, no conference titles and whose only two division titles came within the last decade.
Again, like the Clippers, George's career has been anything but ideal. After emerging as a go-to player with the Indiana Pacers early in his career, a major leg injury preceded the Pacers decision to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder just two seasons later.
Interestingly enough, George wanted to be traded to the Lakers instead of the Thunder. Regardless, two seasons after being traded to Oklahoma City, George would sign with the Clippers over the Lakers in hopes of winning a “legacy-defining” championship beside Kawhi.
With a career filled with as much criticism as success, nobody can blame George for looking at a championship with the Clippers as legacy-altering. Especially because if he really can accomplish that goal, he's right.