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Dahntay Jones breaks down dynamic issues with Griffin, Jordan, and Paul; Draymond post-game interview bump; almost getting PG to Cleveland with LeBron on “Podcast P with Paul George”.
Today, we share this week’s episode of “Podcast P with Paul George“–presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment–where PG and the guys sit down with NBA Champion, Dahntay Jones, who shares his initial impression of Paul George during their time together in Indiana and humorously reflects on his reaction to thinking he was added to a rebuilding project in Indy.
The guys recall the moment PG declared to his team that he was going to be an All-Star within three years time and share a behind-the-scenes look at the near-trade scenario that would have landed PG in Cleveland with LeBron – revealing Jones’ compelling sell to PG.
Later in the episode, Jones sheds light on the Clippers’ dynamics with Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul, delving into the team’s potential greatness hindered by clashing personalities.
Jones also recounts the incident when he bumped into Draymond Green during his post-game interview, expressing frustration, and on-court retaliation.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- 14:02 – JONES REFLECTS ON ALLEN IVERSON’S ALMOST SUPERHUMAN ABILITY TO PLAY AT AN ELITE LEVEL DESPITE HIS ROCKSTAR PARTYING HABITS
Jones: “J.R. [Smith] took me to Dave & Busters like ‘we’re gonna see my mans real fast.’ So 6 o’clock we get into Dave & Busters and A.I. [Allen Iverson] is there playing shuffleboard with his homies and he like ‘yo what up, Tay’…Ain’t nobody bigger than him…The People’s champ, super nice, got all the accolades and he in the middle of Dave & Busters playing shuffle board with no security. Like people know him and what he do. He take that then go play pool with the homies, and then take that and then we go out. You know A.I., he likes to party all night long, he orders 25 bottles of Dom P[erignon] . He get drunk we carry him out….So he’d get hammered and say ‘I’m gonna meet you for practice what time you going.’..He don’t show up and we do that everyday all summer…He did that to us every night. Then training camp show up and he come in there like right on time, do a little hamstring stretch…get one of the interns and get five shots in five spots and he’s AI. He ain’t worked out all summer and he’s the AI we all know and love….He ain’t touch the ball all summer!”
- 29:51 – JONES ON JOINING THE INDIANA PACERS AND NOT BEING IMPRESSED BY PG UPON MEETING HIM AND SWINGING ON LANCE STEPHENSON DURING HIS FIRST PRACTICE
Jones: “I saw nothing in Paul George. Paul George was 6’9” 175 pounds. On-site, you see nothing in Paul George. I got Paul George and Lance Stephenson. I’m 30 years old and I’m like come on man, I’m part of a rebuild project? I got Danny Granger who’s nuts and all he wanna do is score so like, alright, cool… First day of practice I swung on Lance off the break and they implemented a 25 thousand dollar fine rule for any punch. Lance had never seen somebody play that hard defensively or deny him the ball so his only thing was just to throw an elbow in your face. I swung and he knew it wasn’t a game anymore. Those two [Paul George & Lance Stephenson] came in bright-eyed bushy tail and they thought everything was sweet and I’m 29, 30 years old like ‘yo, I got a family’…One thing that I did see in PG and I can implement to my kids…from the door he would say even at 6’9, 170 lbs, give me three years and I’m gonna be an NBA All-Star. I was like bro, you gotta gain like 40 lbs and you might have a shot…”
- 38:53 – JONES AND PG RECALL THE MOMENT PG TOLD HIS TEAM THAT HE’D BE AN ALL-STAR WITHIN THREE YEARS
Jones: “I can’t exactly remember but I remember the type of scenario it was. It was either in the locker room or in an arena sitting on the sidelines. [PG] had just took a major set of Ls. We had just got done playing ones, he got destroyed, he was talking crazy before that…and he was mad, sweating mad, in his feelings. After we finish ones, everyone talking crazy going over how it happened…it was at his low. He was not saying this just coming through the locker room, ‘I’m going to be an All-Star. He was getting destroyed and he was like, ‘watch, gimme three years and I’m gonna be an All-Star. Gimme three years. I may not be it right now but gimme three years.’ Like yeah alright.”
PG: “I remember it. We were in the locker room. It was more than just the ones. You know how competitive practices [were]… The league is a lot different now. You don’t practice as much as we did back then. To take you back then, we practiced and our practice was intense where we talking shit…And so it just wasn’t my day. We losing in team ball, after we play ones, I’m losing, I’m getting my ass kicked. And you know, they motherfuckers gonna carry that shit all the way to the locker room so I’m hearing it in the locker room…”
- 44:43 – JONES LOOKING BACK ON HIS TIME WITH THE LOB CITY CLIPS AND WHY THAT TEAM ULTIMATELY UNDER ACHIEVED DESPITE BEING ONE OF THE GREATEST TEAMS IN THAT ERA
Jones: “I think the people from that team have spoke about it before but I was kind of like the outsider. So I got on that team late and from the door you see the conflict in personalities. I think that’s what makes our [Clippers] team special now is that we roll with each other, we vibe with each other, everybody like each other….We had all the talent and the only other team that I thought was on our level was the Cavs that year when you had KLove, Bron, and Kyrie…CP [Chris Paul], Blake [Griffin], they were all playing well but like you could just see the riff in personality. DeAndre [Jordan] and Blake [Griffin] were called the twins, they were on one side, CP [Chris Paul] was on the other side and it just didn’t mix. So they could have probably been one of the greatest teams of that era but it’s just the personalities they couldn’t get over some maturity humps to be able to play together and do it the right way.”
- 49:20 – JONES LOOKS BACK ON GETTING FINED $10,000 FOR BUMPING DRAYMOND DURING A POST-GAME INTERVIEW IN 2015
Jones: “Draymond’s my man…He’s a necessary evil for them to be a dynasty. We cannot speak about the Warriors without Draymond Green. His impact defensively, his personality defensively…he’s the one who pulls them out with his mental toughness, his aggression. He helps them do everything that they’ve done. I just didn’t like it being on the other team. And I felt we got bullied that game and he was the biggest bully. And all I knew was bullies get bullied. I didn’t get a chance to get in that game so I was HOT. I watched it for 48 minutes, I was mad, he talking crazy, they ain’t saying nothing back. He bullying them. I was mad bro…I did but I didn’t [mean it]… I had the animosity and if you remember the old stadium in Oakland, one way in, one way out. So like you gotta see each other…I’m mad and he doing an interview and I’m with DJ [DeAndre Jordan] – me and DJ play around a lot, DJ’s a big ass kid – I grabbed DJ. DJ was hot too…I should just run him over while he’s doing the interview. [DJ’s like] chill, chill, chill…But then you walking with the homie right and y’all walking in step and you collide. Well my dumbass the fact that I’m already thinking it, DJ with them big shoulders, he bump me, I bump him [Draymond]. And DJ’s like ah [man] you bumped him didn’t you. I’m like yeah I did. So what? II was gonna do it anyway. So I meant to but I didn’t do it on purpose…I wasn’t going to if I didn’t hit DJ.”
- 1:05:09 – JONES AND PG ON ALMOST GETTING PG TRADED TO THE CAVS TO PLAY WITH LEBRON
Jones: “[They said] we need a shutdown corner. And I’m in the back like, PG! They’re like damn, but don’t nobody know him. [I said] that’s my man! And in the back, they’re going like PG would be dope. I’m like yeah I’m a free agent so I can call him. That’s my man, he gon’ pick up. At that point I’m texting him though like PG what’s up baby? You happy? He’s like ah bro like I think imma try…I’m like bro you ain’t seen these finals. These finals is where it’s at. He’s like I know bro but I think imma stay. So we go and we start talking about all of that. I’m like alright imma work on PG because I think we can make that work. And then PG hit me like 2-3 days later and was like bro, what was you talking about? And I’m like well, okay this is what the scenario is. That whole stuff with Kyrie broke out and…we knew we were going to upgrade our talent and change what we had. And PG was like well I compete against him but I ain’t ever really spoke to Bron. I was like y’all would be perfect. Like Bron’s a great dude, you [are] good people. Like people who know the type of person PG is and we all in this room know that that’s a dope human being so like they would work well together. I was like bro, honestly and truthfully, there are some things that you could learn from LeBron. Just because you one of them ones but like you [are] climbing. You still got stuff to climb. And getting you to the finals, I was selling like shoe sales, all this stuff is going to increase.”
PG: “No he was selling like a motherfucker. He was selling Cleveland. All this shit he’s talking about you don’t know Cleveland is actually dope.”
Jones: “…And it’s just like you got two dope human beings and you want to connect them…and I was like y’all both super dope human beings you gotta play together. You have no choice.”
PG: “And the deal almost went down. I didn’t know how serious it was or that it could actually come to life. But after the meeting, we went to his crib, we chopped it up…Bron sold it to me. Like man we’re gonna try and make it happen…At the end of the day I’m 24, 25 years old, I’m still a fan of Bron…Regardless of the battles we had I’m still looking at him like, that’s Bron!”