After five up and down seasons for the Los Angeles Clippers during the Kawhi Leonard & Paul George era, it finally came to an end this summer when George left LA for Philadelphia.
After those tough seasons playing for the Clippers and their seasons coming to an end with injuries to either him or Leonard, George signed a four-year, $212 million max contract as a free agent with Philadelphia in the summer. He said he wanted to remain a Clipper, but he wanted a no-trade clause to go with a three-year, $150 million extension or a four-year max deal, and LA declined to do either.
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On Wednesday night, George returned to LA to face his former team, not exactly sure how receptive the Clipper fan base will be.
“Our time together was great,” head coach Ty Lue said before LA got ready to play against George and his new team. “He helped this organization advance to the Conference Finals the furthest it’s ever been.”
When asked if he expects boos or cheers ahead of the game for George, “boo him tonight and love him afterward.” Lue said.
George was booed from the moment they announced him in the starting lineup and every time he touched the ball during the game.
“It is stupid,” George said when asked if he was surprised to hear jeers after playing five seasons in L.A. “I mean, I was a free agent, you know what I mean? It wasn’t something that I demanded a trade or went against the team here. I was a free agent. The team presented something that was team friendly, and I did what was best for me in that situation.”
Related: Tyrese Maxey out multiple weeks with hamstring injury
“So there were the cheers. I appreciate them. Those were the ones that I played hard for. The boos, I didn’t get it. I still don’t get it when I go [back] to Indy, but it is what it is. It’s sports. I look forward to next year being back here and more boos.”
He did receive an applause during the first quarter after a timeout. The Clippers put together a tribute video for him for the time he spent in their organization and fans stood up and recognized what he did for this team.
He appreciated the video tribute and called the Clippers franchise “first class.” He said his return drew a fair and split reaction, but he did not understand or care for the boos after helping this Clippers organization reach their only Western Conference finals appearance in 2021.
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His return ended with a 110-98 loss to LA and to add injury to insult their leading scorer Tyrese Maxey left the game after the end of the 3rd quarter with a hamstring injury that will sideline him for “a couple of weeks,” according to Shams Charania.
George led Philly with 18 points in his return and his team has now lost four straight to fall to 1-7 this season.
On Wednesday George said that he did not hold a grudge against the Clippers organization for not re-signing him. He said he had an “awesome” relationship with team owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank.
“I think it got kind of misconstrued or [the] narrative kind of wasn’t written correctly with the relationship with Lawrence [Frank], the relationship with Steve Ballmer,” George said before the Sixers had their morning shootaround at UCLA. “I mean, they were awesome the whole time I was here.
“Kind of the reason why it was such a shocking decision how it played out at the end. But they were awesome. My time here, I think that was kind of refreshing to be alongside and have a partnership like that with a front office. And so I think that was probably the highlight of the whole [time with the Clippers]. Just how great they were in my tenure here.”
