With Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder in town to play the Los Angeles Lakers for the Southern California native’s first game in L.A. since demanding a trade there over the summer, talk of whether or not George will join the Lakers in free agency has run rampant.
First George told reporters that he would have ‘loved’ to play for his hometown team, while also revealing that the NBA looked into his relationship with Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw as part of its tampering investigation.
The league ultimately found no evidence of tampering on Shaw’s part, but the Lakers were still fined a record $500,000 for reported contact between general manager Rob Pelinka and George’s agent, Aaron Mintz.