Kawhi Leonard was again the talk of the town after his recent deal and the Introduction press conference with the Clippers. Leonard and Paul George were the highlight of the show and answered a lot of questions. Steve Ballmer, the owner of Clippers and Doc Rivers, the head coach was also happy and shared their plans for the duo in future NBA seasons.
While everyone was thinking that Leonard and George teamed up in a jiffy, it was being planned from a long time ago. Leonard was planning to make the deal happen since 2017 and got so close. Somehow their luck didn’t work and San Antonio Spurs decided to change their stats on George at the last moment. Here are the previous attempts of Kawhi Leonard’s deal and his similarities with Paul George.
Planning for the Deal
Back in 2017, Kahwi Leonard was part of the San Antonio Spurs and Paul George was playing for the team of Indiana Pacers. At that time, Leonard requested the San Antonio owners to buy George in a trade deal. Despite him trying his best for a trade, the Spurs didn’t do anything because of business issues.
Paul George finally ended with Oklahoma City Thunder and got a better package deal and things were good. Even George asked the Pacers team to he will leave the team after free agency 2017. The plan was to join the Los Angeles Lakers and stay close to his home in the city. But the Pacers ultimately traded him to Thunder in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
Leonard and George Similarities
Both the player were planning it for so long and it finally happened this year with the Clippers. The reason behind joining the LA city team is the striking similarities between Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The two NBA stars grew up in Southern California and attended college in Fresno State and San Diego state.
https://twitter.com/Jourard/status/1155520939116941312
Early morning thoughts: Already have my @TeamLou23 jersey. Ordered my @kawhileonard jersey. Now I’m thinking of buying @Yg_Trece’s jersey. Gotta rep hard for Clipper Nation. 🤙🏼 pic.twitter.com/HFmfPnaBpS
— Sheldon Tamayo (@sheldonjst) July 28, 2019
Arrivals of my Paul George and Kawhi Leonard Jersey pic.twitter.com/PQ1yxwL8Sw
— Clippers Wallpaper (@Clippersfool) July 28, 2019
Even they play the kind of similar positions and George was scared that he might not a place in the team because Leonard is a better player. Nothing of that sort happened and the Clippers coach Doc Rivers is working on a new strategy for the Leonard and George power tandem.
