Paul George Says Russell Westbrook 'Changed the Whole Culture' for Clippers

Paul George is very happy to have Russell Westbrook back with the Los Angeles Clippers.

"I'm happy to have Russ back, he means so much to the team," he said during an episode of Podcast P. "Just that small stint that he had with us, bro, he just changed the whole culture. That's a steal, right? You get Russ at the minimum? ... He's going to play, and outperform, and have no care about it."

It isn't a surprise that George is a big Westbrook supporter.

He shocked much of the NBA world by re-signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder on a four-year, $137 million max contract in 2018 after being acquired by the team in a trade the year prior. The expectation going into the 2018 offseason was that he would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers that summer.

While he would eventually push for and land a trade to the Clippers to join Kawhi Leonard one year later, it was his partnership with Westbrook that initially kept him in OKC.

But Russ was also very good in his 21-game stint with the Clippers, averaging 15.8 points, 7.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from three.

He served as the team's starting point guard and was a bright spot in the Clippers' five playoff games, putting up 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per contest.

While the Clippers have clearly prioritized the point guard position this summer—a trade for Malcolm Brogdon fell through, and they are considered the favorites to acquire James Harden—bringing back Westbrook on a two-year, $7.8 million deal with a player option in the second year was a savvy bit of business.

One of the issues in the Leonard-George era of the Clippers, outside of persistent injuries, has been the lack of a game-changing point guard. Perhaps a full season of Westbrook will finally address that issue.

Certainly George is thrilled to have him back.