Clippers’ Paul George Sends Heartfelt Message to LA Fans After Joining 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George never intended to leave Los Angeles this summer. However, the NBA is a business and the Clippers haven’t shown him the money.

George spoke about his message to the fan base on Monday, via Podcast P, presented by Wave Sports and Entertainment.

“I just want to say to the fans, man, I appreciate the fans here while I was in LA, they supported me,” George said. “They supported the team. One of the best fan bases. It says a lot when you have a team as historic as the Lakers that have won multiple titles and you’re still a Clippers fan. You know what I mean? It says a lot about the fandom behind being a Clippers fan and still being indebted to the love and support and authenticity around me. It was fun. Doing laundry in front of them. I’m sad that I’m not going to walk into the new arena with die-hard Clippers fans filling that arena. It’s bittersweet. I don’t know what kind of reception I’m going to get when I come back, but I want to say I appreciate playing in front of my home crowd and accepting to play for the city.”

George left just as the franchise was moving from Crypto.com Arena to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. It will be the first time the Clippers have their own arena.

Although George has dealt with constant injuries during his five years in Los Angeles, he has still made his mark, making the All-NBA Third Team in 2019-20 and making three All-Star appearances. The Southern California native averaged 23 points per game on 45.5 percent shooting with six rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals as a Clipper.

What will George’s legacy be with the team?

George is one of the most important players in Clippers history.

The 34-year-old gave his thoughts on the most memorable moment of his time with the team.

“I mean, I just think that run that we had when we went to the Western Conference Finals was, obviously, the furthest any team has ever gone in Clippers history,” George said. “I’m not one to dwell on shit that doesn’t mean anything. We didn’t win so it doesn’t mean anything. But that moment was the biggest, I felt like a Clipper the whole way through. You know what I mean? There was life there. There was energy there, you know what I mean? It was like, I don’t know, it was just like we felt like we could beat anybody. That group felt like we were the best team no matter what. We lost when Kawhi (Leonard) went down, that hurt us. But if he was healthy, we would have won that year.” You see what I mean ? “

George was, of course, referring to the 2020-21 season, when Los Angeles reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. After playing Robin to Leonard’s Batman, the nine-time All-Star was forced to be the hero after “The Klaw” partially tore his right ACL against the Utah Jazz in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals. George responded with a 31-point outing, tying the series at 2-2.

The six-time All-NBA honoree then proved that it was no fluke, putting together a 37-point, 16-rebound, five-assist performance in Game 5 to lead Los Angeles to another victory and prove that they deserved the nickname “Playoff P.” George even gave the undermanned team a fighting chance against the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, posting a 41-13-6 stat line in Game 5. However, the Clippers ran out of steam, falling 4-2 in the series.

Despite George’s contributions to the team, however, the team was unable to give him the amount of money he wanted, according to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.

“George wanted more than the Clippers could afford to offer — it probably would have been frowned upon if he had gotten a longer contract than Leonard and max numbers with Leonard taking less than he could have,” Goodwill said.

Although Leonard has been injured every season since 2021, he is still considered a better player than George when healthy, which is why the team prioritized him over George. The 76ers, meanwhile, had the cap space to offer “PG-13” the four-year max deal he wanted.

Regardless, George took the Clippers to new heights, providing them with the type of star they hadn’t had since the “Lob City” days of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.