Last year, Paul George made it known to the Indiana Pacers that he wouldn't be signing a new contract with the team when his current one expired. He also expressed his desire to play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Pacers reacted by, not sending George to his hometown Lakers, but to the Oklahoma City Thunder instead in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.

Due to the fact he didn't get his desired move, many thought PG13 would therefore just play one season with the Thunder before moving on to the Lakers in free agency in the summer, but that wasn't to be.

Instead, George, to the surprise of some, re-signed with Oklahoma City on a reported four-year, $137 million contract. He didn't even bother to meet with the Lakers this summer.

The small forward had an opportunity to go and play for his hometown team, but he didn't take it. The reason why he didn't is because he loved playing with the Thunder.

He said, via ESPN: "It was absolutely tempting. Honestly, I wanted to come back home. But again, I got traded to Oklahoma. Loved the situation. Loved where I was at. I decided to stick around a little longer.

"I just wanted my free agency to be over with. In my heart, I felt great about Oklahoma and I wasn't going to prolong it if I felt good about it already."

George averaged 21.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a 40.1 3-point shooting percentage for the Thunder during the 2017-18 season.

As a result, Thunder had the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, going 48-34 before losing to the fifth-seed Utah Jazz in six games during the first round of the playoffs.

George was enticed more to come back to the Thunder because of the way which it finished for the franchise in the postseason.

He said: "I felt when it came down to it and all the factors that played into it, deep down there was a nasty taste where we finished.

"I just felt I had more to offer. I had more to give. I just felt about where we were as a whole.

"I honestly went through the process and doing pros and cons throughout the whole [season]. I wouldn't say the whole [season] was a recruiting process.

"I was just trying to find the highs and lows and the good and bad. Ultimately, I just felt this was the road for me to win."

CLICK HERE to listen to Episode Two of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring New York Times senior writer Marc Stein. Subscribe for all future episodes.