The entire power balance of the NBA was shaken when superstars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard went to the Los Angeles Clippers on the fateful day of July 10, 2019. In the 48 hours both preceding and following the acquisitions, many phone calls were placed, much strategizing was done, and many tears were shed. In this groundbreaking two-part oral history, journalistic superstar DownToBuck presents the stories of those who lived through it, in their own words.
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PAUL GEORGE (Los Angeles Clippers Forward): Kawhi called me up at two in the morning and asked me in that netural voice of his, "You wanna play with me in LA?"
KAWHI LEONARD (Los Angeles Clippers Forward): I remember calling Paul and just saying "Let's play in LA" without specifying the team I was talking about. That was my bad. Every time I see Paul I want to apologize to him for it, but it's never the right time and now I don't even know if he remembers. What if I apologized and he didn't know what I was talking about?
PAUL GEORGE: At first I thought he was talking about the Lakers, but I decided to verify that with him and he was actually talking about the Clippers. Which, I mean, that's cool too. The Clippers are cool.
KAWHI LEONARD: If Paul had thought about it a little more, he would have realized that the Lakers were capped out after acquiring AD, and that the idea of both me and him joining LeBron and AD on the team was not only far-fetched, but completely impossible while operating within the confines of the NBA's salary cap system.
UNCLE DENNIS (Kawhi Leonard's Uncle): The only thing that made me happier than Kawhi screwing the Raptors was Kawhi screwing the Raptors while simultaneously helping Paul screw the Thunder. Small markets can suck it. So can Canadian markets. They can suck it for an extra long time. San Antonio can suck it.
STEVE BALLMER (Los Angeles Clippers Owner): Kawhi told us that if we could acquire Paul George from the Thunder, he would sign with us. I started crying right there on the phone, because I knew that with our lord and savior Jerry West, anything was possible.
PAUL GEORGE: I requested a trade from the Thunder, but first I called up Kevin [Durant] to find out what it was like to have an entire fanbase hate your guts for all eternity.
KEVIN DURANT (Brooklyn Nets Forward): Paul called me up and was like "Yo KD, do you ever get death threats after you betrayed OKC?" I'm like, yeah, sometimes I do, but who cares what those flyover hicks think about me? I'm in New York, baby.
PAUL GEORGE: I'm in LA, baby.
SAM PRESTI (Oklahoma City Thunder GM): When Paul requested a trade, I got the feeling that I was just a pawn in the larger machinations of the NBA. When that hopeless dread feeling fills my chest, I like to crawl under my desk and snuggle the carpet and pretend it's a really big bunny. But you shouldn't print that part. You should say that I reacted stoically because the NBA is, at its core, an impersonal business and I wasn't emotionally attached to anything at all, ever. At no point did I have the urge to cuddle anything.
PAUL GEORGE: My trade request was not made with the goal of getting me to one team in particular. I just wanted to get off the Thunder because the franchise was going nowhere. I have to say this or I'm going to get fined for tampering.
JERRY WEST (Los Angeles Clippers Executive): Remember when I traded Mike Muscala to the Lakers for Ivica Zubac? I pretty much cost Magic [Johnson] his job that day. Sending Danilo [Gallinari] and Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] and a bunch of picks to the Thunder was a good move, but it wasn't the kind of move that would cost anybody their job. I regret that immensely. I would have loved to see that bitch Presti get fired.
SAM PRESTI: I have lawyers who can and will make a jury believe any definition of "libel" that is told to them. You will provide an advance copy of this article to my team, and if the word "bunny" appears in it, you're done. Got that?
JERRY WEST: Mike Muscala is total garbo.
MIKE MUSCALA (Garbo): You know, I thought it was a weird decision to interview me for a saga that I played no part in, but my agent told me I was going to get paid so here I am. You look kind of shabby, though. Not like the kind of professional journalist who actually makes money.
JERRY WEST: They should have been sending us picks because we were helping them get started on their rebuild. We were doing them a favor.
SAM PRESTI: Of course, with Paul out the door, Russell [Westbrook] wanted out as well. I was calm the whole time. Did I ever feel like I let down the fans? No. Our fans are only there because we had superstars. If we trotted out the same types of rosters that the Hornets do, our building would be empty every night. Every single night. And now it will be.
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Part II: • Paul George All 292 Three-Pointers Fu...
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