Tag: Paul George

Carmelo Anthony reflects on Thunder tenure, proclaims he had no role in OKC

Carmelo Anthony reflects on Thunder tenure, proclaims he had no role in OKC.

Days before the start of the 2017-18 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder rocked the NBA world when they acquired Carmelo Anthony from the New York Knicks.

The surprising addition capped off an eventful offseason for the Thunder, who also traded for Paul George. OKC sought to build up a contender after Kevin Durant’s departure.

Alas, the trio of Russell Westbrook, George and Anthony sounded better on paper than in actuality. The Thunder struggled with consistency that season. They eventually lost to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2018 NBA playoffs.

The Thunder broke up the trio when Anthony was shipped to the Atlanta Hawks for Dennis Schroder. George signed an extension but proved to only stay in OKC for one more season.

In a podcast appearance with George, Anthony offered insights during his one-season stay with the Thunder. The future Hall-of-Famer noted he entered OKC without a defined role.

“I didn’t have no role in OKC, no role it was, ‘Melo you gon figure it out’ and I was like, ‘Nah I can’t figure (expletive) out,'” Anthony said. “What you want me to do? I’m taking darts and I’m the 4th (expletive) on the team. I still know what I can do, let’s keep this (expletive) going.”

Anthony later detailed that he was willing to come off the bench for his second season with the Thunder. This came after a year of controversy surrounding the topic.

Upon his arrival, he immediately dismissed the notion of the possibility. After a quick playoff exit, it appeared Anthony had a change of heart.

“I was ready to come off the bench the next season. We lost in the playoffs and they looked at us crazy,” Anthony said. “We get three years together who knows what happens.”

George added his thoughts. The multi-time All-Star also agreed that the Thunder pulled the plug too soon on that iteration of the squad.

“I thought the whole process was rushed, I was expecting that we were building something here,” George said. “We got a trio, we saw what it look like, now we got a full training camp next year. I just thought it was rushed and too soon. We were only one year in.”

It’s a shame the trio didn’t work out for the Thunder. They had one season together and they were underwhelmed. Considering the roster’s expensive price tag, OKC had to make a tough choice to move on from Anthony.

Years later, it’s always interesting to hear from the players’ side of stories — especially one like this where a megastar in Anthony described how he handled his decline.

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Paul George talks about playing in the Lakers’ shadows as a Clipper

Paul George once wanted to join the Lakers, but he instead ended up with the Clippers, and he said it wasn’t the most wholesome experience.

Perennial All-Star forward Paul George grew up in Southern California as a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and the late great Kobe Bryant. After spending his first several NBA seasons with the Indiana Pacers, he expressed his interest in returning home and playing for the team he grew up rooting for.

Instead, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017. The following summer, he had the opportunity to join the Lakers as a free agent and team up with LeBron James. Instead, he re-upped with the Thunder, and he seemed to have a strong bond with Russell Westbrook.

Just a year later, he was sent packing to the Southland — as a new member of the Los Angeles Clippers to team up with Kawhi Leonard.

Now that his tenure with L.A.’s junior varsity NBA team is over, George opened up about how it felt to play for it during a recent episode of “Podcast P with Paul George,” his podcast.

“I think initially, coming back to L.A., that was home when I first came back to L.A., but it’s not the same love,” said George. “Because when I was in L.A. they was like ‘Man, you should’ve been a Laker,’ that’s all I was hearing. It wasn’t no ‘Welcome to the Clippers.’ We happy you in L.A., but you should’ve been a Laker. I’m on the B-Team. That’s how the vibe and the love felt.”

The Clippers gave up a king’s ransom to get George: guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Danilo Gallinari and a whopping seven first-round draft picks. At the time, it was thought to be a massive win for them, and they were the overwhelming favorites to win the world championship once the 2019-20 season started.

But they blew a 3-1 series lead in the second round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets that year, preventing what seemed to be a fated matchup with the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Even though the Clippers were picked to win it all at least one season afterward, they now have just one Western Conference Finals appearance, two first-round exits and one play-in tournament loss to show for that George trade.

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander is now a young MVP candidate, and one of those draft picks the Thunder acquired turned into Jalen Williams, who seems to be blossoming into a star in his own right. According to the terms of the deal, Oklahoma City is still owed three more first-rounders.

By now, one has to clearly conclude that Oklahoma City fleeced the Clippers in that deal.

George joined the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency this offseason, and the Clippers are now left with an aging, injury-prone and unreliable star duo in Leonard and James Harden. It has reinforced the Clippers’ reputation as (we’re trying to be polite here) a second-rate NBA team.

Paul George kept being told he was on ‘The B Team’ in Los Angeles while playing for the Clippers

It’s so weird that Paul George admitted this in public.

Anyone who follows the NBA knows that the Los Angeles Clippers very obviously play second fiddle to the Los Angeles Lakers in Southern California. It’s so true that the Clippers would likely have to run off an all-time dynasty to sniff the same love the Lakers get in L.A.

Even then, that love would probably only be temporary.

With that said, it’s bizarre that Paul George kept hearing the Clippers were L.A.’s “B Team” while he was actually playing for the Clippers.

During the latest episode of Podcast P with Paul George, George said other people kept telling him the Clippers didn’t nearly matter as much as the Lakers while he was on the team. It’s a frank admission — conveniently said after George is no longer on the roster — that probably speaks to an unsurprising loser mentality the Clippers franchise has yet to shake:

Look, it’s one thing for NBA fans in Los Angeles to say they care about the Lakers more than the Clippers. That’s fine. But as George alludes, it is a fraught mentality that only hurts the franchise from ever really rising to prominence. And it’s especially unwarranted for him, as a former player, to say this in public.

As George moves on to hopefully greener pastures with the Philadelphia 76ers, this sort of thing is clearly something the Clippers still have to work on. Well, if they ever want to be relevant, that is.

Paul George credits Philadelphia’s Lil Dicky for him signing with Sixers

Paul George credits Philadelphia rapper Lil Dicky for him signing with the 76ers in free agency.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a terrific offseason led by the big addition of Paul George in free agency. The Sixers were able to land the 9-time All-Star and max player they were looking for to team up with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in order to move forward in the Eastern Conference.

The Sixers pulled out all the stops in their meeting with George. Along with President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey, GM Elton Brand, and team governors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, franchise icon Julius “Dr. J” Erving was also at the meeting.

George also discussed on “Podcast P with Paul George” the video the Sixers showed him which included Philadelphia icons such as baseball megastar Mike Trout and rapper Lil Dicky. It was Lil Dicky’s message that swayed him to join the Sixers:

That video—it sold me. What hit me was the saving money. It impacted me, it had a little touch on me.

Lil Dicky added:

I just thought, what would be pertinent information? I’m from Philadelphia, I know where your dollar goes in Philadelphia. I have a house in L.A., if I spent the same amount of money on a house in Philadelphia, it would be like 100 times bigger. Your bang for your buck goes so much further in Philadelphia.

The Sixers were obviously in “whatever it takes” mode to get George to Philadelphia. On paper, the Sixers have an elite trio with George, Embiid, and Maxey and they are squarely in the conversation to come out of the Eastern Conference and reach the finals for the first time since 2001.

 

Sixers’ Paul George, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey ranked 2nd-best trio in the NBA

Philadelphia 76ers stars Paul George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey are ranked as the 2nd-best trio in the league.

The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot of hype surrounding them following the big addition of Paul George. The Sixers are now led by George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey to form one of the more talented trios in the league.

On top of that, the Sixers have put some solid pieces around them in the form of Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Caleb Martin as well as bringing back Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry. The Sixers have had a very good offseason at this point.

With the new Big 3 leading the way, Bleacher Report ranked the top trios in the league with the Sixers coming in ranked No. 2 behind only the Boston Celtics:

Truthfully, there’s a chance no threesome in the league is as well-rounded. Embiid gives you that top-end MVP talent who can anchor a defense entirely on his own. Maxey has transformed into a lethal three-level scorer with developing playmaker chops. George’s off-ball motion will brutalize defenses yet he still has the on-ball skill necessary to generate looks from scratch. His defensive slippage has also been dramatized, even if the Sixers may wind up a little too reliant on him during non-Caleb Martin minutes.

On paper, the Sixers should absolutely be the biggest challenger to the Celtics in the East. With that being said, Philadelphia will need healthy playoff runs from Embiid and George to get the job done. While both are extremely talented players, they both have an injury history and that’s something the Sixers will have to be cognizant of.

 

Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings throws down challenge for Sixers

Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings throws down a challenge for the new-look version of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers have gone through a major roster upheaval in the 2024 offseason as president Daryl Morey has taken advantage of the cap space he created. The Sixers are in a fantastic position to contend in the Eastern Conference seriously.

The addition of Paul George is the big highlight for Philadelphia as he will join Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to form one of the more talented Big 3s in the league. If those three are healthy combined with the strong supporting cast the Sixers have built, then they should be in a great position in the 2024-25 season.

Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings is throwing down a challenge to the new-look Sixers as he stated on “Gil’s Arena”:

Y’all gave him $212M… to be the third option? Philly better win the championship this year. They better win the championship year. I don’t wanna hear (expletive).

The Sixers certainly still have some work to do, but Philadelphia is also in the driver’s seat of heading toward a championship. A lot of it will depend on injuries, but as long as the Sixers are healthy in the playoffs, they will have a terrific chance at going deep into the postseason.

 

New addition Eric Gordon explains what Sixers are getting in Paul George

Eric Gordon explains what the Philadelphia 76ers are getting in new star Paul George.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a busy offseason highlighted by the addition of Paul George. The idea is that George will form an elite trio with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and help the Sixers finally get over the hump in the East.

However, the Sixers also need to put a team around those three stars. They have done a solid job thus far with the additions of Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Caleb Martin while also bringing back Kelly Oubre Jr. On paper, this is a very talented Sixers team.

Gordon played briefly with George in the 2022-23 season with the Los Angeles Clippers and gave his thoughts on what the Sixers are getting in the 9-time All-Star.

“Paul has always been a good teammate,” said Gordon. “You guys will see and his demeanor and he always comes ready to play. I think he’s going to fit in well for this team because he brings a different dynamic. He’s definitely a two-way player. I just like his demeanor for this team and I think he’s gonna love it, and so, I think it’ll work out well.”

It’s obvious what George brings to the table. He has been a dominant player in the league for a long time and he will look to carry that over to Philadelphia. Even in his 14th season, he did average 22.6 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 41.3% from deep on 7.9 attempts per night.

Gordon shot 42.3% from deep for the Clippers while playing next to George and Kawhi Leonard. One has to assume that he will be able to shoot somewhere around that percentage for Philadelphia with both George and Embiid flanking him.

 

Nick Nurse discusses Sixers adding Paul George, other additions

Coach Nick Nurse gives his thoughts on the Philadelphia 76ers adding Paul George and others in the roster.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a busy offseason as President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has taken advantage of the cap space he was able to create.

The Sixers have brought in Paul George to form a Big 3 with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey and fill their need for a wing player. They also brought in Andre Drummond to fill the backup center role behind Embiid. Caleb Martin is another addition expected to make an impact and Eric Gordon is somebody who can shoot the ball well.

The Sixers also locked up Tyrese Maxey long-term and brought back Kelly Oubre Jr. This has been a terrific offseason for Philadelphia thus far on paper.

Coach Nick Nurse joined the ESPN broadcast with Craig Bolerjack and Thurl Bailey while at the Salt Lake City summer league matchup between the Sixers and the Memphis Grizzlies and had this to say about George and the other additions:

We think we’ve done some good things. Obviously, adding PG there, we got our middle filled up there. We’ve got Tyrese and Joel at the 1 and the 5. I think PG fits right in there. Also re-signed Kelly Oubre another wing that played well for us. Caleb Martin as well. Drummond the backup to Joel. Yeah, we’ve done a good job. I think right now, we feel like we’re much better than we were a year ago.

Time will tell if the Sixers will be able to grow and get to where they want to go, but one can obviously see the improvements and the steps the Sixers have taken to get to this point. The goal now is to get over the hump in the Eastern Conference finally and that will be on Nurse to make it all work.

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Paul George’s trade to the Warriors was ‘close to being done’

Paul George was close to being traded to the Golden State Warriors before moving to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Golden State Warriors reportedly had an interest in acquiring Paul George from the LA Clippers at the start of free agency. George had a player option for the upcoming season but was expected to decline the option to hit unrestricted free agency. Once he opted out, the Warriors’ chances of bringing him to the Bay Area evaporated. As such, he joined the Philadelphia 76ers.

During a recent episode of “Podcast P with Paul George,” the veteran All-Star discussed the potential deal with Golden State, confirming that it came close to going through, only for the Clippers to decline the Warriors trade offer. 

“That was a real thing that was close to being done,” George said. “That deal was close to being done from what I was being told on the situation, they was expressing just how much they wanted me there, how I could have fit in perfectly with Draymond (Green), Steph (Curry). (Brandin) Podziemski, (Jonathan) Kuminga, (Andrew) Wiggins. They didn’t know how or what package was going to be there to trade for me… I think Clippers didn’t want a certain trade deal that Warriors were willing to give and yeah, it just didn’t happen, but it was close…It’d been dope, man. I was looking forward to it, if it happened.”

Acquiring George would have positioned the Warriors to contend for a championship next season. He would have been the perfect addition to help re-tool the roster following Klay Thompson’s decision to join the Dallas Mavericks. 

Unfortunately for Golden State, the deal didn’t materialize. Still, they did an admirable job in pivoting to acquire Kyle Anderson, De’Anthony Melton, Buddy Hield and Lindy Waters III.

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Kelly Oubre Jr. explains returning to Sixers, reacts to Paul George addition

Kelly Oubre Jr. explains returning to the Philadelphia 76ers and reacts to the addition of Paul George.

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers got a steal with Kelly Oubre Jr. late in the 2023 offseason as he was signed to a minimum deal. He averaged 15.4 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 44.1% from the floor and tied a career-high with 1.5 assists per game.

He is an athletic player who has a strong offensive game while also being a pest on the other end of the floor as well. He shot 39.1% from deep in the playoffs against the New York Knicks and will look to help push Philadelphia forward in the Eastern Conference as he returns in free agency.

“Honestly, man, it was just a different type of basketball that I haven’t really seen in my career,” Oubre said of why he decided to stay with the Sixers. “The professionalism, the inspiration all around me. You’ve got greats. You’ve got All-Stars all around me. You’ve got guys that I’ve been able to get respect from.”

The fact that Oubre was able to earn the respect of his peers in Philadelphia so quickly is a big step for him. That’s a big reason why he wanted to remain with the Sixers.

“It’s kind of tough doing that in your first year with an organization or a program,” he continued. “You always need two, three years to win everybody over a little bit or allow them to see who you are, but in my first year, it happened very fast. I put in a lot of work to be where I am. I think this is the place to get back to where I know I need to be.”

Oubre mentioned once the season ended at the hands of the Knicks that he loved playing for the Sixers and expressed his desire to return. Therefore, he didn’t really need any of his teammates to sell him on returning. He was planning to do anyway.

“Nobody was pitching me, no,” Oubre explained. “But at the end of the day, why would you need to? I think our work that we put together on the court speaks for itself and the work we’ll do in the future will speak for itself. At the end of the day, we stayed in contact. It’s just been nothing but love, man, and I appreciate all my brothers in this locker room, past and present.”

Another big move the Sixers in free agency has, obviously, been the signing of Paul George. Philadelphia was able to land the 9-time All-Star on a 4-year $212 million deal.

“I’m really excited,” Oubre said of George. “I’ve always studied his game. I’ve always been a fan from afar. To be able to get different pieces and nuggets from him, learn his game a little bit–I think we offer different things, but we can both feed and learn off each other. But I’m really excited, man, to learn from him and to just help him do his thing with the rest of his career that he has left. I’m really excited.”

There is this thought process that Oubre and George have some type of “beef” from the past, but Oubre wants to squash that. The two of them are competitors and anything from their past was just that: competition.

“Obviously, everybody wants to talk about a beef or whatever,” Oubre finished. “There’s never been a beef. We’re just two competitors who respect each other on the court, and we just try to go at it really hard. So now that we’re on the same team, we can do that to other people. I’m excited.”

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