SAN ANTONIO – Now members of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George could have become teammates with the San Antonio Spurs.
In an interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Leonard said he asked the Spurs to trade for George, who was later dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2017.
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Kawhi says the idea of he and Paul George playing together started when he was on the Spurs and PG wanted to leave the Pacers.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 25, 2019
(via @Rachel__Nichols) pic.twitter.com/3AhffsW2RP
This would have happened before the 2018 season, when Leonard only played in nine games that season due to right quadriceps tendinopathy. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors and helped them win the 2019 NBA Championship.
Kawhi Leonard’s comments about wanting to team up w/Paul George in San Antonio are very interesting. This would’ve been in 2017 after the Warriors series...Kawhi only plays 9 games the next season and the rest is history. #NBA pic.twitter.com/MEPaEHNX4G
— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) July 25, 2019
Leonard and George nearly became teammates with the Pacers. Indiana took George in the 2010 NBA Draft and then selected Leonard in 2011, but traded him to the Spurs.
Now George and Leonard are teammates with the LA Clippers, which almost didn't happen, as Leonard told Nichols.
Kawhi on how close he was to choosing the Lakers or Raptors instead of the Clippers:
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 24, 2019
"I was very close. Real close. But when [the Clippers] presented the opportunity of playing with Paul, it was easy, it was a yes. I said let's get it going."
The two Southern California natives will now try to take over LA, hopefully pushing the Lakers and their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis to the side.