Written by ESPN News Staff at ESPN.com
Thunder forward Paul George says a former face of the franchise — Kevin Durant — sold him on his new team following his trade to Oklahoma City last week.
“KD was like, ‘That place will blow you away,'” George told Sports Illustrated for a story published Tuesday. “He told me, ‘They can offer what other teams can’t in terms of the people and the preparation and the facility, down to the chefs and the meals.’ He was pretty high on them. He thought it was a first-class organization in every way.”
George was traded to the Thunder by the Indiana Pacers on July 6, with the agreement initially reported June 30. The Pacers, who received Victor Oladipoand Domantas Sabonis in the swap, were looking to move George after he told them he would opt out of his contract after next season.
George, 27, acknowledged the awkwardness of his departure from Indiana.
“There’s no right way to handle it,” George told SI. “I get the frustration. I get why people are upset. But at the same time, I want the average fan to understand that we only get a small window to play this game, and more than anything, you want to be able to play for a championship. I wanted to bring that to Indiana. I really did. I love Indiana. That will always be a special place for me, and I’m sorry for not holding on. But I wasn’t sure we’d ever get a team together to compete for a championship, and that’s where all this came from.”
Durant, coincidentally, just won his first NBA title after leaving the Thunder last offseason and signing with the Golden State Warriors.
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