Paul George Nearly Joined Raptors After Allegedly Breaking Up OKC Due to Kawhi Leonard & Drake’s Influence: “People Give Me Sh*t”

April 23, 2019, the OKC Thunder again stumbled in the playoffs. Paul George and Russell Westbrook‘s championship bid fell flat on its face, keeping up the theme of first-round exit after losing to the Trail Blazers. Three consecutive first-round exits were enough to push Paul George into paranoia as PG13 looked for an escape route.

Meanwhile, on June 13, 2019, the scene was different in California. The world saw Kawhi Leonard hoisting his 2nd NBA Championship after shredding the Warriors with his claws. After repeated bangs on the door for four seasons, it finally came off its hinges to give the Raptors their first-ever championship. Two contrasting pictures were bound by a thread. Paul George ultimately got his escape route in the summer, shouldering the blame for breaking up the OKC. But the road did not lead to Toronto.

Now, five years down the line, we finally got to know that it could’ve led to the Raptors and it was close. The revelation came thanks to Paul George, who is again on the move, after finding yet another escape route. During the latest episode of Podcast P, Paul George opened up about his potential link-up with Kawhi Leonard in the summer of 2019. Yes, they got to team up together in the Clippers, but that could’ve happened in Toronto, according to PG.

“People give me sh*t for this too, thinking I was the reason that Thunder team broke up, which was not the case. Again, it was me having to do what was best for me in that situation. So after Toronto wins, right, Kawhi winning, I text Kawhi, ‘Congrats, bro.’ I think he ended up calling me right after…He’s like, ‘What you gonna do? Like, you comfortable there? You good there?’, I’m like, yeah, bro. I just resigned,” George said to his co-host. PG even mentioned that Kawhi told him he heard people wanted to get out of the Thunder.

George disclosed “That was the initial start of that conversation. And then me and him was just working on how can we make this happen. And I was close to going to Toronto. Like, we were deciding to go to Toronto or the Clippers. Ultimately, the Clippers put something better, you know, a better package together, a better trade package together that sent me to LA,”. Not only Kawhi, but even a Raptors superfan tried to lure the 9-time NBA All-Star to Canada. With the celebration of the Raptors winning, that superfan thought, why not keep the good times rolling? So he acted, and that superfan was the rapper, 5-time Grammy Award winner, Drake.

Paul George reveals Drake’s involvement in potential Raptors move

Drake’s love for his native NBA team is beyond doubt. The rapper, even in his busy schedule, is a frequent fixture in the courtside seats of Scotiabank Arena. “We did this off of heart. We did this off of love,” Drake said after the Raptors won the chip in 2019 as celebrations continued long into the night. But Drake knew that to continue the success, they needed more than Kawhi Leonard and Paul George just happened to be his neighbor.

“There we linked up…So it was Drake’s crib when he was in Hidden Hills. And at the time, I was living in Hidden Hills. So Drake was probably like 5 minutes around the corner from me, So I like, man, pull up, let’s chop it up. So I pulled up. We chopped it up,” Paul George revealed in the same pod. Drake even let Kawhi stay at his house as a token of appreciation after the win, while he was away from the town. Hence, when George visited Drake’s house, he found Kawhi there. Had he not left the town, things could’ve been very different today and Paul George just might have that one ring he is still chasing and hoping to get with the Sixers.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what brand maker, Leonard Armato, had to say about the deadly duo, Shaq and Kobe, check out this video