Rumor has it Paul George is looking for a trade, and his one reaction has made fans speculate even harder. Missing more games than he played, Kawhi Leonard’s run with the LA Clippers has not been very smooth. Aware of the same, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith took a dig at Leonard on the NBA Countdown panel and did so in the presence of the Clippers small forward.

Referring to Leonard’s frequent injuries and him missing the games quite often, Smith said, “Nobody on the planet knows what it’s like to play without a star than Paul George.” While George responded with a “don’t do that,” there was also laughter in his response. The fact the 9x All-Star did not defend his teammate has made fans wonder if George will be looking for a new destination to fulfill his championship aspirations.

Notably, both Leonard and George had landed with the Clippers in the same year (2019). And while The Claw has already claimed 2 NBA championships to his name, PG is still looking for his first. So far, the experiment with this has lasted for 5 years, but the 9x All-Star has had no success.

Leonard’s injury-plagued run with the Clippers hasn’t been of help either. Missing the 2022 season entirely, the 2x NBA champ has played just 229 games in his 5 seasons with the franchise. Apart from this, yet another reason behind rumors of George leaving the team stems from the Clippers reportedly not willing to max his contract.

Netizens contemplate Paul George’s reaction to Smith’s dig at The Claw

It is worth mentioning that the Clippers willingly let go the opportunity of offering a four-year, $221 million contract extension to PG. In fact, reports suggest the franchise is not offering him anything more than what they paid Leonard: three years, $152.4 million. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly interested in getting the 9x All-Star on board. In such circumstances, it was only natural for an X user to assume George laughed at Smith’s remark because “he knows he outta there.”

Apart from this, Young Trece’s own teammates themselves are not sure of the future. Appearing on Run It Back show, Clippers’ Terance Mann faced a question of if PG will be returning to the team. “I hope so, but you never know with this free agency stuff,” he replied. So there is no way that NBA fans will not think of similar possibilities. Magic Swishes commenting, “PG laughed? Oh yea he leaving…” is a reflection of this belief.

It is important to highlight this was not the first time Stephen A. Smith has taken shots at Kawhi. In fact, he has gone to the extent of stating he’s “sick of Kawhi Leonard”. There were multiple X users, who once pointed out this hate in the reply section of NBA Central’s post. Meanwhile, one user claimed Paul George was also “laughing too much” on Smith’s remarks so “he hates kawhi too”.

However, some X users were not concerned about the trade rumors. Their question for Smith’s remarks was that “PG really gonna let that slide?” Speaking of his bond with The Claw, Paul once stated in a Bleacher Report interview — “I understand him. I vibe with him. There’s just a mutual respect there”. So it was obvious for the fans to raise a question on 9x All Star not defending his friend.

In a separate instance of a podcast with Serge Ibaka, PG had termed Leonard as an “awesome teammate”. So yet another X user had his objection that “Paul didn’t even defend” his said ‘awesome teammate’.

It’s possible these contemplations of Paul George’s reaction will reach the 9x All Star himself. Now it’s to be seen if he has any response to what all has been said about him. As for his future with the Clippers, PG has time till June 30 to sign an extension with the franchise.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.