Kawhi Leonard and Paul George shocked the world this summer when they decided to link up on the Los Angeles Clippers which is a move that nobody saw coming. Leonard decided to pass up on opportunities to play with the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, while George requested a trade out of Oklahoma City. While some fans aren't too happy with how Leonard went about his decision, there is no denying that he is helping to create a powerhouse in Los Angeles.
Leonard and George got to speak to Rachel Nichols of ESPN yesterday where they talked about their decision to link up and how they've been planning it for a while. At one point, Leonard said "this is probably going to be my first time playing with an elite player of his level. You know, around the same age as me, same talent. I'm excited."
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"I was trying to get San Antonio to get him over to us," Leonard said of George. "You know how things work with trades, he ended up to the Thunder. But that’s probably when the initial idea started when he wanted to get out of Indiana."
As for George, he tried to reassure Thunder fans that his trade request didn't just come out nowhere and that there was a plan all along.
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"This was nothing that came out of the blue; we were all on the same page," George explained. "The initial plan was to give it another year, see what we could do & I did that. We played another year & it felt like we were just stagnant. Next thing was, let's move forward with other plans."
With the Clippers set up for success, it will be interesting to see just how far they can make it in a stacked Western Conference.
