Although Danny Green waited on Kawhi Leonard’s next move in free agency like the rest of us, he felt Kawhi would not be joining the Los Angeles Lakers.
The two of them played together with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors, winning two NBA championships in the process, and even though Green waited for Kawhi’s decision, hoping they could team up again, he had a feeling they would take different paths.
On a conference call, Danny Green is describing what it was like for him to wait on Kawhi. "I checked in with him all the time. He gave me no updates. I had no idea where he was going." Also said he figured Kawhi would want to go his own route, rather than join Lakers.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) July 11, 2019
“I think all of it was a shock to me,” Green said on a conference call with reporters. “Except not as much of a shock Kawhi going to L.A. The Clippers, anyway. I didn’t see him coming this route [to the Lakers].
“I feel like he wanted to go his own route. I think it was between them and going back (to Toronto). I think the year that he had and what those fans brought this season and everything, it was hard for him to turn it down and leave Toronto. But I knew he wanted to be closer to home.”
Leonard always wanted to return to California, considering he’s a native of Riverside, but he didn’t want to go to the Lakers after they already acquired Anthony Davis to pair him with LeBron James. Instead, Kawhi pushed the Clippers to make a move for Paul George from the Oklahoma City Thunder as the biggest condition to join Doc Rivers’ side.
The Lakers, on the other hand, after finding out that Kawhi will not join them, acted quickly to add Danny Green, who relishes the opportunity to play alongside LeBron once again. They were teammates with the Cleveland Cavaliers during Green’s rookie season in 2009-10, and Danny is happy to play with the King again.
“I’ve had a chance to play with him, play against him, compete and now compete with him,” Green said. “Kind of come full circle. It’s crazy how some things work out.”
Now, the rivalry between two Los Angeles franchises will become more significant than ever as both teams have strong chances to win the NBA championship. With LeBron and Davis with the Lakers, and Kawhi and George with the Clippers, Los Angeles became the epicenter of the NBA.
