Russell Westbrook: Won't make sales pitch for free-agent-to-be Paul George
LOS ANGELES -- With Paul George's impending free agency a topic at shootaround Wednesday as the Oklahoma City Thunder prepared for the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell Westbrook said he doesn't feel the need to make a sales pitch to his superstar teammate.
"No. Sales pitch is gonna be when we win a championship," Westbrook said. "Beat that pitch."
For a number of years, talk has circulated about George being tied to his hometown Lakers. That hit a crescendo last summer, when his agent informed the Pacers that George wouldn't re-sign with Indiana and mentioned the Lakers as a desired destination.
On Tuesdayin Oklahoma City, before he made the trip to Los Angeles, George wasasked if he had regrets about the Lakers connection becoming public.
"Nah, no regrets at all," he said. "All that was said was a destination that I would love to go to. There wasn't a, 'Hey, gun pointed to the head, send me here.' I just stated somewhere I wanted to go play. You ask 80, 70 percent of guys in the league if they would love to go back home and play for their city, play for their home -- that's all I stated, that I would've loved to go back home and play for my city. So no regrets at all, no regrets at all."
George, and those close to him, maintains his main desire with any potential free-agent destination is a chance to win at the highest level. Entering Wednesday, the Thunder sat at 20-17; the rebuilding Lakers were 11-25.
"It comes down to being just grateful and happy where you're at," George said of evaluating future options. "You just never know. I've been on a team in Indiana where I thought we'd be together my whole career, but you just never know. You've got to be grateful and live in the moment, and that moment for me is starting to get with this group.
"Being out there with Melo [Anthony], with Russ, the talent that we have, you're in that moment, living in that moment, and it's crazy to think where we can get to the more we build. We've only been together a couple of months, and you've got to think of the bigger picture when it comes to a situation like this."
George grew up in Palmdale, about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. He actually grew up anLA Clippersfan, drawn to Baron Davis, Darius Miles and Lamar Odom, but Lakers star Kobe Bryant was always his favorite player.
The Thunder are in Los Angeles this week to play back-to-back games at Staples Center -- against the Lakers on Wednesday night and the Clippers on Thursday.
"You've got your stars courtside, it's a historic building, the energy is great," George said of playing games in L.A. "And it's a chance to really showcase yourself in one of the highest, best markets. It just so happens that that's home for me, so there's family, there's friends, there's teachers, people I grew up around. It's just a nice environment for me."
But while Westbrook may not be thinking about a recruiting pitch, Lakers (and Clippers) fans most definitely are.
"This story is always going to be here," George said. "It is what is. That's not my focus. I could care less about the attention that it draws. We've got two games to win in L.A. I'm excited to play in front of family and friends, and I'm excited to do it with the team that I have."
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
