Paul George ‘Knew’ Russell Westbrook-James Harden Pairing Would Work

Russell Westbrook‘s partnership with James Harden in Houston has been a success, which did not come as a surprise to Paul George.

George, who played alongside Westbrook in OKC for two seasons before ultimately requesting a trade, says “Russ is a heckuva teammate.”

PG adds that he spoke to Westbrook first about his desire to relocate to L.A. last summer.

Per ESPN:

“I knew it was going to work,” George said at the morning shootaround before the Clippers face the Rockets on Friday night. “Russ is a winner. Russ wants to win, Russ does whatever it takes to win. My time playing with him, Russ doesn’t really have an ego. He puts his ego to the side.

“He allowed me to be myself, he allowed me to be comfortable. And I had one of the best career [years] I had while playing alongside him. Russ is a heckuva teammate.”

Playing alongside Westbrook, George finished third in MVP voting last season, averaging career-highs of 28 points and 8.2 rebounds to go with a career-high-tying 4.1 assists per game.

“I made sure that was the first thing that I did was talk to Russ and get his temperature and see what he was looking [for] and see where he was at with things,” George told ESPN in October during Clippers training camp. “The relationship [with Westbrook] never stopped. The relationship never was a part of the reason why I left. Me and Russ got along great. I enjoyed [it]. I learned so much from playing alongside Russ. He made me a better player and person.”

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