Paul George says Dr. J compared him to Moses Malone during Sixers’ star-studded recruiting trip
The team’s prized free agent also explained how a ‘disrespectful’ offer began an unexpected exit from the Clippers.
The Sixers put on the full-court press to recruit Paul George, the biggest free agent available. They signed George to a four-year, $212-million contract to play alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
On Monday’s episode of the Podcast P Show, George revealed how they did it — and why he opted to move on from the Los Angeles Clippers in the first place.
The decision to leave Los Angeles, George’s hometown, was a big one, especially since George still hasn’t seen much of Philadelphia outside the halls of the Wells Fargo Center. In fact, he just arrived in the city on Monday before heading to the team’s Camden headquarters.
But the Sixers assured George during their recruiting trip to L.A. that he was making the right decision.
“It was a level that made me feel like this is where I’m supposed to be,” George said. “This is who I’m supposed to play for.”
As part of their pitch, which included bringing a Sixers legend to George’s home, the team put together a recruitment video featuring Philly fans sharing what the Sixers mean to them, giving George a taste of the passion of the fan base.
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“Yeah, they can be rowdy, I’ve heard the stories of them getting on their players, but that’s good pressure,” George said. “That’s pressure that you want. [Indiana] was kind of like that. It lit a fire under you to play better and be better. I guess people would be scared of that, but it was reassuring that they care, that they want to win. I want to win so I was looking forward to it.”
Also in the recruitment video? Mike Trout, Meek Mill, Saquon Barkley, Kevin Hart, and Lil Dicky, ready to sell George on coming to Philadelphia.
But the highlight of the Sixers’ visit was Julius Erving, who accompanied Daryl Morey and the Sixers’ brass. His appearance was extra special for George’s father, a massive fan of Erving, and also helped close the deal for George.
“He brought up how he joined the team, they ended up getting to the championship, lost one, got to the championship again, lost, got to the championship again, lost,” George said. “He was like, we just can’t get over the hump. Then they go ahead and trade for Moses Malone, and they win it, and he was like, that was the missing piece. P, you’re the missing piece. I was like, man, where do I sign?”
Prior to the Sixers’ recruiting process, George was also negotiating with the Clippers. The two parties had worked on an extension midseason, but ultimately tabled the process in February after the Clippers offered George two years and $60 million, an offer George thought was “disrespectful.”
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George said he was willing to take less money if the team would give him a no-trade clause, which is extremely rare in the NBA. Just two NBA players, LeBron James and Bradley Beal, have trade protections. George was willing to take a similar deal to teammate Kawhi Leonard’s three years, $150 million, but the team would not offer him trade protection and ultimately pursued a max deal elsewhere.
“They didn’t want to do no-trade,” George said. “I’m like, all right, well then it only makes sense for me to do four years, $212 [million]. At least pay me my money. If y’all going to trade me, y’all going to trade me. But at least now I’m not in a situation where I could have got more, had I just gone to free agency, then just take this deal where y’all could ship me. … They didn’t want to do that, so now I was like, I’m open to entertaining what’s out there.”
That included entertaining Dr. J and the Sixers in his home — no shoes allowed.