Paul George: Russell Westbrook Was 'All For' Trade to Clippers; 'Happy for Me'

Paul George and Russell Westbrook have each moved on from Oklahoma City, and according to George, it was an amicable divorce. 

Following his introductory press conference alongside Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers, George sat down with ESPN's Rachel Nichols. Among several topics covered was how Westbrook reacted to George being traded to the Clippers earlier this month. 

"[It] was easy, same conversation me and Russ always have," George said. "He was happy. He understood. He was all for it. We talked as men and again, he was happy for me and he wanted me to do what was best for me and my career."

Paul disclosed more on how the trade was received by Oklahoma City: 

"This was nothing that came out of the blue; we were all on the same page. The initial plan was to give it another year, see what we could do & I did that. We played another year & it felt like we were just stagnant. Next thing was, let's move forward with other plans.  "Again, it was mutual amongst everybody. Thunder got amazing packages out of it, for myself, for Russ when Houston involved. And we all thought it was a win across the board, we all thought it was the best moment to pull the plug."  

Late on July 5, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski's report that Leonard had decided to sign with the Clippers as a free agent and George was joining him through trade felt out of the blue to the outside world. However, Leonard had been orchestrating it behind the scenes, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

While Leonard revealed to Nichols that he was "very close" to either signing with the Los Angeles Lakers or staying in Toronto, the Clippers took an unsurmountable lead once they landed George. 

Since George's departure, Westbrook followed in his former running mate's footsteps and requested a trade from the Thunder. Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti met Westbrook's wishes and executed a trade to reunite him with former OKC teammate James Harden in Houston. 

Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, George revealed that he was a Clippers fan growing up in the Los Angeles area but also idolized Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Ultimately, the 29-year-old's allegiance to Leonard superseded all. 

Everything else aside, all eyes are on George and Leonard to bring the Clippers their first NBA title in franchise history.