Norman Powell On ‘Podcast P With Paul George’

Normal Powell speaks on the infamous LeBron jersey pull, best Drake moments, wildest G League story, and more with “Podcast P With Paul George”.

Today, we share highlights of this week’s episode of “Podcast P With Paul George”–presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment–as he sits down with fellow LA Clipper guard and NBA champion, Normal Powell.

In the episode, Norm looks back on his run with the Toronto Raptors and the dismantling of the team’s championship winning core group, wild stories from his time in the G League, and the time everyone thought he and LeBron had real beef between the two of them.

Later in the episode, Powell and PG share their favorite stories from the time they’ve hung out with Drake and what it was like getting to witness Kawhi’s 2019, Game 7 winning shot first-hand.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 11:37 – WHY POWELL PICKED UCLA OVER USC

“And the one school that stayed with me was UCLA. Like they came to every practice, they was on the phone every single week, like ‘yo we still love you, we’re here for you, your family support. We know you’re going through a tough time, we still believe in you’ and like seeing that loyalty and that commitment was like ‘man I gotta go here’ like this is where it’s at. And Tyus Edney talked to me when I went on my official visit and brought me in as big, big brother and I was like ‘man this is where I’m going to be at, y’all shown me the most love and y’all got the history in John Wooden, like this is where I’m going to go to get the most eyes, get the most exposure and take my skills to the next level’.”

• 13:35 – WHEN NBA BECAME A REALITY FOR POWELL

“Honestly, I had to stay all 4 years [in college], so like it was tough for me to find those moments and like ‘yo I can make it,’ I really didn’t feel that way until, honestly, at the end of my junior year, going into my senior year because we had a coaching change and it was like the one time, like the whole knock on me was oh ‘can he score? Can he score at the next level?’ My first two years under Coach Howland was all defense and like half court your games controlled, locked in, like you’ve got to move within the floor of the offense, and me like I’m up and down, you know, I gotta run, I gotta cut, and so after my junior year, when I averaged I think it was second most on the team, was when I was like ‘okay, I can make it but they still want to see another year of it’ and so I was like I think going into my senior year was like okay, this is what I gotta do, I led them to the Sweet 16, now we gonna see what’s up, and it was still the same thing. Like the knock, like he can’t shoot now. I shot like 29% from three in college, so it was like always trying to prove myself that I can be at the next level but I knew it was possible after we went to the Sweet 16.”

• 29:00 – POWELL ON WHY HE WAS REALLY MAD ABOUT GOING TO THE G-LEAGUE

“The Summer League was great for me because when I got drafted, it was like I’m showing everybody, so to have that accolade, you know, being the only rookie in that class to make the first team was really good. But DeMar kind of let me know this is gonna be a team where I got to earn my stripes. When they sent me down to the G-League, I was hot, I was so mad, and the only reason I was mad – nobody knows this, they think I’m mad because I got sent to the G-League, because honestly you want to get sent down there because you get to play, you know when you’re playing up at the real team like, minutes might be 2 minutes in a blowout game, you know, winning or losing. But, in G you playing 36, 38… But, I was mad because it was Christmas and DeMar was flying back private, and it was my first time to be able to fly on a private jet, you know what I’m saying, it’s like a 4 or 5 hour flight, like I’m about to be living up man, I was excited to go back. After the game they walked back in there like ‘Yo, we sending you to the G-League’, at the time it was the D-League and I mean we were in Sioux Falls, we was in Westchester, I’m like ‘Bro, what we doing?’ We got snowed in at Westchester, my first time down, oh I was so mad, man, but I really liked that stint, just because I got to hoop, and I got to show what I could do…but that experience showed me what it was like to have to earn your stripes and prove yourself.”

• 31:50 – POWELL ON HIS WILDEST G LEAGUE STORY

“Being snowed in in Westchester was the wildest thing for me. We had to wait the next day, we’re snowed in and we had to drive 11 hours from Westchester to Toronto. So we had to drive back and it was 11 hours. That was the worst time for me. We crammed in a little car too we had to go to rent a center and drive 11 hours to Toronto man.”

• 41:21 – POWELL DISHES ON LEBRON BEEF AND JERSEY PULLING DRAMA

“So it was like 2017 we was on our side of our bench. I’m standing in the right corner and i thought I was getting subbed out so I walk to the bench and he pulled my jersey because the team was telling me no I’m still in. He pulled my jersey like little boy me…so I’m like I smack his hand away and tuck my jersey in. I’m like man, don’t do that. So he look at me like I’m trying to help you. I said nah don’t do that you know my name….this is how crazy the internet is. I didn’t think nothing of it and I get back it’s everywhere. It’s viral…the next game ESPN comes in… and they ran with it.”

• 44:10 – POWELL ON THE DEMAR TRADE AND OTHER RAPTORS TRADE SHAKE-UPS

“I knew something was going to happen [with trades]. As soon as LeBron hit that little buzzer beater with the right running and gamed us like that. Me and Fred looked at each other in the locker room like ‘man, yeah something’s going to go down.’ It was like something’s gotta go. Something’s gotta change. We didn’t know what it was. Number one seed and we got swept. That doesn’t happen…We knew there needed to be an adjustment, we just didn’t know what. I thought it was going to be the coach…But when DeMar got traded it was like oh everybody was glued to their phones like who’s next?”

• 48:24 – NORM ON GETTING A FRONT-ROW VIEW ON KAWHI LEONARD’S GAME 7 WINNING SHOT TO SEND THE RAPTORS TO THE NBA FINALS

“I was right there! Kawhi just wanted the ball, honestly. There was a scheme but they took it away, so if you see, Kawhi had to pop to go get it and now he’s just hunting for the shot where he could get space. I’m looking at the clock like ‘bro, I don’t know if we have enough time and he’s running around the whole damn perimeter and I’m like bro, when is this man gonna shoot the ball.’ And he found his little spot in the corner fading away and we’re all on the edge of our seats. That thing went in and we were going crazy. But the play was broken, that’s the crazy thing. That’s just literally Whi [Kawhi Leonard] creating something, getting to the middy and doing what he does best, and the ball did its famous four or five bounces and went in. It was like Christmas came early!.”

• 58:09 – DRAKE PAID FOR RAPTORS NIGHT OUT IN HOUSTON

“I think the dopest thing, we were in Houston and [Drake] sent money to the club for us and paid for our whole night while we were in Houston. I think that was like the dopest thing. But he’s always been good people, he’s always been hella cool. Anytime I see him it’s love. He always embrace me and tells me how much we mean to the city.”