The Los Angeles Clippers shook up Southern California more than the massive earthquake Friday evening.
Pulling off a stealth-like move to sign Kawhi Leonard and acquire Paul George, the Clippers one upped their Southern California rivals’ acquisition of Anthony Davis.
But this entire situation could have ended differently. According to this report from ESPN’s Romona Shelburne, Leonard called up Kevin Durant to recruit the two-time NBA Finals MVP to the Clippers.
“Durant got a call from Kawhi Leonard, asking if he’d consider teaming up with him and signing with the LA Clippers,” Shelburne reported. “They’d be a great complement to each other, Leonard told Durant. He’d always admired him and had tremendous respect for him as a competitor.”
Durant ultimately decided to join Kyrie Irving with the Brooklyn Nets. Then, late Friday evening, the Clippers were able to land Paul George in a massive trade with Oklahoma City. That ended up convincing Leonard to join the Southern California powerhouse.
This has been one crazy offseason around the NBA. Friday night’s events only added to that. How would the landscape have changed if Durant spurned the Nets for Los Angeles? We’ll never know. But it’s fun to look at that parallel universe.