Paul George 'never wanted to leave Los Angeles,' calls Clippers' first offer 'disrespectful'

A week after agreeing to join the Philadelphia 76ers, Paul George opened up about his split with his hometown Los Angeles Clippers and the breakdown in contract negotiations that preceded his departure.

George detailed his side of his discussions with the Clippers in his podcast, “Podcast P with Paul George,” released Monday.

He said he never wanted to leave Los Angeles, but that a “disrespectful” offer from the Clippers in October set the tone for negotiations.

“To be honest, I never wanted to leave LA,” George said (29:00, below). “I didn’t want to leave LA at first. LA is my home, that’s where I wanted to end up. I wanted to work as hard as I could to get a win in LA. That was my goal, to be here and commit to LA.

“But as it turned out, the first initial agreement was, in my opinion, a little disrespectful. Again, in all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost. It’s a business.

“So the first initial contract was two years, $60 million. So I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. … So I was like, no. I’m not signing that.”

George then said the Clippers offered to continue building around him and Kawhi Leonard for the long term. According to George, the Clippers increased “inches, inches, inches” after their initial offer in October until they landed on an offer of “$44, 45” million per year.

In January, Leonard signed a three-year, $150 million, fully guaranteed contract extension. George said he would have accepted the same deal during the season.

“Then I heard about what they were gonna give Kawhi,” George continued. “So I was like, ‘Just give me what Kawhi got. Y’all see us the same way. We came here together, we wanna end this shit together. I’ll take what Kawhi got.’ No problem. I was fine with that.”

“And we kept taking less (than the maximum contract value). Kawhi took less. I figured if Kawhi was going to take less, I’m not going to say I wanted more than Kawhi. It’s not about me getting paid more than him. I’m going to take what he got. You give him this, give me this. They didn’t want to do that.”

Paul George is now with the Philadelphia 76ers following failed contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Clippers. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

George said he then broke off in-season negotiations during the All-Star break with the intention of resuming talks after the season. He said that after the season ended, the Clippers offered him a deal similar to Leonard’s after about “three years, $150 million.” He said he countered by offering to take that deal if it came with a no-trade clause.

He said the Clippers refused to include a no-trade clause and he countered by offering a four-year, $212 million maximum contract with no no-trade clause. He said the Clippers rejected that offer and negotiations ultimately reached an “impasse.”

“I love (owner) Steve Ballmer, I love (president of basketball operations) Lawrence Frank,” George continued. “But at that point, I didn’t even feel comfortable coming back with that type of energy and playing in Los Angeles.”

George ultimately agreed to a four-year, $212 million contract with the 76ers. Hours before the deal was announced, the Clippers gave their version of the breakdown in a statement announcing that George would not return.

“We negotiated for months with Paul and his representatives on a contract that would make sense for both parties, and we found ourselves far apart,” the statement read. “The gap was significant. We understand and respect Paul’s decision to look elsewhere for his next contract.”

George’s move to Philadelphia is the biggest deal of NBA free agency. He joins a 76ers core alongside former MVP Joel Embiid and All-Star Tyrese Maxey that is expected to contend for an NBA title.

With his departure, an era ends in Los Angeles, five years after the Clippers acquired George and Leonard in hopes of competing for a title. The Clippers have reached the Western Conference Finals just once in those five seasons and don’t plan on competing for a title now that George is gone.