David Blitzer came, Josh Harris, Elton Brand, Dr. J (Julius Erving). Bro, I had Dr. J in my crib! That’s crazy! Shoutout Peter Dinwiddie, Daryl Morey, just the whole majority of the Philly front office was there at the house and it was a great meeting and talk about organization. Not to say that Clippers didn’t and the Clippers don’t, but just an organization that just was like, ‘Man, you’re our guy. We believe in you, we want you here, there’s no perfect pairing with you, Joel, Tyrese together.’ My family felt it, I felt it, it just felt like, alright, this is where I’m going to spend the next chapter of my life. It felt good, man…They sold the city, sold the team, the organization, the fit, and it was just like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.

I think it was just the idea of playing with such a presence in Joel and then just a fresh start, new opportunity. I was pretty open on the conversation and the decision. I think stuff was kind of at a (stand) still with Clippers, which opened me into looking at other teams, hearing other programs out and ultimately it was more so just the idea of one of the best point guards, young point guards in the league and the best, if not the best, big in the league in Joel. So I mean it was kind of just like, let’s see what this looks like.

I can’t really say it feels like home yet. I ain’t ever been around the city yet but I’m looking forward to it…But based off the meeting I did feel–like I said–it was a level that made me feel this is where I’m supposed to be. It was the toughest decision, because I’m moving my kids, my wife, right? They’re comfortable here. My daughters, they’re already sad that they’re missing out and leaving their friends that they now have grown up with for the past five years and so it was a lot. I ain’t going to lie. It’s probably the most stressful time that I’ve been through in a long time, because I’ve never been through free agency. Every time, I’ve foregone free agency and re-signed. So this was the first time I was an official free agent, and so it was stressful. I ain’t going to lie. Especially me being home. I think about somewhere else–it would’ve been a little different. Like ‘I ain’t got no ties here. I can leave.’ But this is the crib. Do I really want to leave LA?

Yeah, I mean I think it was just a great collective conversation between the three of us. We haven’t all three been on at the same time, but I talked with Joel. I talked with Tyrese. Tyrese, man, one of the most mature kids in the league. He was just like, ‘Man, I learned so much when big fella went down. It was a ton of pressure on me. I was able to see different defenses, kind of learned, grow.’ I’m like, man, ‘Yeah, whatever I can help with in getting you even better, that’s what I’m here for.’ He’s a star. We all know he is a star. He’s got number one option capabilities and you need fresh legs, that liveliness that he has. Joel, simple. I’m going to space the floor for you. I’m going to do this, that, there’s so many ways we can play off one another. Like I said, I’ve never played with someone so big and dominant like that. Just he’s the best or one of the best centers in the league, bro. That’s a beast, Baby Shaq (O’Neal). Again, it’s a dream come true, like having a star point guard and a star big, that’s a crazy dynamic right there.

Just to put it out there, I never wanted to leave LA. Initially, I was not trying to leave LA. LA is home, this is where I wanted to finish at, and I wanted to work as hard as possible to win one in LA. That was the goal, to be here and be committed to LA. As it played out though, the first initial deal was I thought kind of disrespectful, right? And again, in all of this, no hard feelings, no love lost–it’s a business. So the first initial deal was like 2-years, $60 million. So I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 2-years, $60 million? That’s crazy! I’m not signing that.’ Now we’re getting into the negotiating– No, I’m not taking that deal and so they saying this, that ‘Wee want you and Kawhi (Leonard) here long term We want y’all to be here,’ all of this stuff right. Mind you this was before the season started–maybe October-ish when negotiations first started. As we kept going, it was like they would go up inches, inches, inches to where it was like 44/45 (million/year), right? But this was a couple months in between before we got it to 40-something. So I’m still like, ‘Nah, I’m still not doing that.’

Then I hear wind of what they’re going to give Kawhi so I’m like, just give me what Kawhi got. Y’all view us the same. We came here together, we want to finish this (expletive) together. I’ll take what Kawhi got. I was cool with that and we were still taking less. If Kawhi took less, so if Kawhi takes less, I’m not going to–it’s not about me being paid more than him. I’m going to take what he got. They didn’t want to do that. So this is before the All-Star break. I’m like ‘You know what? Let’s not even have no more conversation. Let’s just play this year out.’ Because it was starting to get into my mood. Now, I’m like–I didn’t want that energy carried over to the team because I could see it start to bleed a little bit to the team where I was just disconnected. I didn’t really (expletive) with. I was kinda just to myself a little bit. Let me get to the end of this year and we’ll discuss this again. We’ll pick up conversations again.

Season ends, I finish healthy. 74 games played and had one of my most efficient seasons. So now we going into negotiations and they bring it to 3 years, $150 (million). Basically what they wanted to give Kawhi. So a part of me was still like, alright cool. It sucks that it had to get to this point, that we couldn’t get this figured out a lot sooner but now we’re at the end of the year and it’s 3 years, 150 and I’m like ‘Alright, we’re in the ballpark. Now we can have a conversation.’ It still wasn’t about the money because when I went back to have the negotiation at the end of the year, I presented the 3 (years), 150, no trade because in the meeting, they’re like ‘We want you here long term. When you retire, we want you to be a Clipper life time, we want you to be here with the Clippers you’re whole carer.’ So I’m like ‘Cool. Give me the 3-years $150 million, no trade then.’ I’m taking less, but at least I know I’m here. I’m committed to y’all. They didn’t want to do no trade. They didn’t want to do that.

So then I’m like, ‘Alright, well then it only makes sense for me to do 4-years, $212 (million). At least pay me my money. If y’all going to trade me, then ya’ll going to trade me, but at least now I’m not in a situation where I could have got more, had I just gone a free agency, then take this deal where y’all could ship me wherever I want. They didn’t want to do that, so now I was like I’m open to entertaining what’s out there. Through the negotiations, they weren’t going to budge. I wasn’t going to budge. I thought I played well enough for them to be like, ‘You know what? He’s a part of our future.’ I thought I did that. I thought I earned that. Granted, we didn’t win while I was there, but luck has a lot to do with that. We couldn’t remain healthy as a unit, but I thought I did enough to earn that. They didn’t want to do it. So it was just a stalemate.

Ultimately it was like, alright, that ship has sailed…I love Steve (Ballmer), I love Lawrence (Frank), but at that point it didn’t even feel right to come back with that type of energy and be comfortable playing back in LA…Steve is a good dude. I love Steve as an owner, one of the best owners that I played for, but it’s a business I won’t take nobody’s word if they can’t put it in writing, right?

My idol ‘The Bean’ Kobe Bryant – my way of idolizing Kobe and something that meant something outside of 24 and 13.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely! I owed Kawhi that conversation. I called him up and was just like, ‘Man, listen, I think I’m going to go elsewhere. Conversations with the Clippers didn’t go how I wanted to.’ I kind of broke down how I told you guys how it all played out and we had that conversation and I was like, man, I got to do what’s best. He understood like ‘Go get your bag like P, go get your back. I can’t even be mad at you.’ I look at Kawhi as one of my best friends in this league. Somebody that I (expletive) with. Our families love each other. So it was tough to leave him just with how much I enjoyed being out there with him. That was one of a big decision too that weighed a lot on me was just, ‘Damn, I’m leaving my boy.’ But I had to have that conversation with him. We talked and he gave me his blessings of like, man, just go do what’s best for you.