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Paul George says fellow Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard supported his decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency.
"I owed Kawhi that conversation," George said Monday on Podcast P, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment. "I called him up and was just like, man, listen, I think I'm going to go elsewhere. Conversations with the Clippers didn't go how I wanted to. I kind of broke down how I told you guys how it all played out and we had that conversation and I was like, man, I got to do what's best.
"He understood, like, 'Go get your bag like P, go get your bag. I can't even be mad at you.'"
Podcast P with Paul George @PodcastPShow"I owed Kawhi that conversation ... it was tough to leave him."<br><br>PG got Kawhi's support on his free agency decision 🤝 <a href="https://twitter.com/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coinbase</a> <a href="https://t.co/FY2z1XR0lN">pic.twitter.com/FY2z1XR0lN</a>
George continued: "I look at Kawhi as one of my best friends in this league. Somebody that I f--k with. Our families love each other. So, it was tough to leave him just with how much I enjoyed being out there with him.
"That was one of a big decision too that weighed a lot on me was just, damn, I'm leaving my boy. But I had to have that conversation with him. We talked and he gave me his blessings of like, man, just go do what's best for you."
George will now leave the Clippers after five seasons and a franchise-record 820 three-pointers in Los Angeles, while Leonard is set to remain with the team through 2027 after signing an extension in January.
George went on to provide details of the contract negotiations with the Clippers:
Just to put it out there, I never wanted to leave LA. Initially, I was not trying to leave LA. LA is home, this is where I wanted to finish at, and I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in LA. That was the goal, to be here and be committed to LA. As it played out though, the first initial deal was I thought kind of disrespectful, right and again, in all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost..it's a business like you said. So the first initial deal was like two years, 60. So I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Two years, 60? That's crazy! I'm not signing that. Now we're getting into the negotiating– No, I'm not taking that deal and so they saying this, that we want you and Kawhi here long term, we want y'all to be here, all of this stuff right. Mind you this was before the season started…maybe October-ish when negotiations first started. As we kept going, it was like they would go up inches, inches, inches to where it was like 44-45 [million/year]…but this was a couple months in between before we got it to 40 something. So I'm still like, nah, I'm not doing that. Then I hear wind of what they're going to give Kawhi so I'm like, just give me what Kawhi got. Y'all view us the same. We came here together, we want to finish this sh*t together. I'll take what Kawhi got, I was cool with that and we were still taking less. Kawhi took less, so if Kawhi takes less, I'm not going to, it's not about me being paid more than him. I'm going to take what he got. They didn't want to do that...Let me get to the end of this year and we'll discuss this again. We'll pick up conversations again.... Season ends, I finish healthy. 74 games played and had one of my most efficient seasons. So now we going into negotiations and they bring it to 3 years, 150 [million]. Basically what they wanted to give Kawhi. So a part of me was still like, alright cool. It sucks that it had to get to this point, that we couldn't get this figured out a lot sooner but now we're at the end of the year and it's 3 years, 150 and I'm like alright, we're in the ballpark. Now we can have a conversation. Still it still wasn't about the money because when I went back to have the negotiation at the end of the year, I presented the 3 [years], 150, no trade…I'm taking less, but at least I know I'm here. They didn't want to do no trade. They didn't want to do that so then I'm like, all right, well then it only makes sense for me to do four years, 212 [million]. At least pay me my money. If y'all going to trade me, y'all going to trade me, but at least now I'm not in a situation where I could have got more, had I just gone a free agency, then just take this deal where y'all could ship me. They didn't want to do that, so now I was like I'm open to entertaining what's out there. I thought I played, played well enough for them to be like, 'you know what? He's a part of our future.' I thought I did that. I thought I earned that. Granted, we didn't win while I was there, but luck has a lot to do with that. We couldn't remain healthy as a unit, but I thought I did enough to earn that. They didn't want to do it. So it was just a stalemate. We came to a stale[mate] and ultimately it was like, alright, that ship has sailed…I love Steve [Ballmer], I love Lawrence [Frank], but at that point it didn't even feel right to come back with that type of energy and be comfortable playing back in LA…Steve is a good dude. I love Steve as an owner, one of the best owners that I played for, but it's a business. I won't take nobody's word if they can't put it in writing, right?
Leonard's three-year extension will play him approximately $149.5 million (h/t Clippers reporter Justin Russo).
At the time of signing, the Clippers star was eligible for a four-year extension worth an estimated $223 million.
Leonard said in January that he took a deal below the maximum in part because he was hoping it would leave enough room for the Clippers to re-sign George and James Harden.
"With the conversation that I have with them about it, I think for the most part everybody is coming back," Leonard told reporters in January. "So with me signing an extension, I think it gives us a chance to sign both of those players."
Leonard originally recruited George to the Clippers, which led to George requesting his trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
This time around, Leonard's bid only worked to keep Harden, who recently re-signed with the Clippers on a two-year, $70 million deal.
The Clippers also used the extra room offered by Leonard's deal to offer George a new contract, but could not agree on an accompanying trade clause, according to George.
George said the team would only offer him the three years and $150 million it gave to Leonard without conceding on a no-trade clause.
He said he then asked for the maximum of four years and $212 million, which the Clippers turned down.
At that point, George said "it didn't even feel right to come back with that type of energy and be comfortable playing back in LA."
George ended up getting the maximum offer from the 76ers and decided to leave Los Angeles to join Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia.
That decision may represent a loss for Leonard, but it sounds like the Clippers star understands George's decision to accept the maximum available contract offer as he heads into his age-34 season.
