Paul George on Stephen A. Smith constant criticism of Kawhi Leonard: 'Let it go'

More than anyone in the organization, Stevens is responsible for the decision to keep giving Brown and Tatum time to build their relationship and grow into the leaders of the franchise. He was the coach who signed off on drafting each of them, then the executive entrusted with building the right team around them. He was the decision-maker on all of the trade offers that came in from around the league as teams hoped Boston would lose patience with one or both of them. He was the man, sources said, who said no or decided not to pursue trades for Paul George (2017), Jimmy Butler (2018-19), Kawhi Leonard (2019) Anthony Davis (2019) and Kevin Durant (2022). -via ESPN / June 18, 2024

ClutchPoints: Kawhi Leonard got a new haircut 🔥 (via @cassyathena) pic.twitter.com/JSoCR1PElp -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / June 17, 2024

Speaking on NBA Countdown before Game 4, ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a couple of news items. Both pieces of information concerned Boston Celtics guard Derrick White. Wojnarowski said White is under serious consideration to join Team USA for this summer’s Paris Olympics. If Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers can’t get his knee to a place where he can play, White is considered the top choice to replace him. Leonard was injured leading up to the NBA playoffs, and missed time during the Clippers first-round playoff series. -via RealGM / June 15, 2024

Paul George on Bronny James: “What’s most impressive is just his basketball savviness. He can do it all. I feel like he hasn’t shown that he can really be elite at a lot of things, but I think he can be elite at a lot of things. I compare him to the Jrue Holidays, the Derrick Whites—guys that are glue guys that can go do everything on the floor and help you. That’s kind of how I see him.” -via YouTube / June 19, 2024

At this stage in your career, what are you personally hoping to accomplish or looking for in the near future? Paul George: “I mean, for sure contributing to winning basketball. But I mean, at this point, I’m not even necessarily, like, it’s not even about, like, you know, people saying chasing a championship. It’s not that, but it’s playing the right style of basketball is what I’m chasing.” -via YouTube / June 19, 2024

Harden was, obviously, teammates with George during the season and as George enters free agency, PG-13 said on “Podcast P with Paul George” that players talk. He insinuated that Harden said something to him about Morey (h/t The Philadelphia Inquirer): “Believe it or not, players talk. And then reputations go around, like, ‘Hey man, I don’t know about going to this place, because they … [shoot]. Watch your back, you know what I mean?’ That’s the conversations you have.” -via Sixers Wire / June 19, 2024