Paul George hosts Thunder teammates for fishing tournament

Paul George already seems to be getting along with his new OKC Thunder teammates.

Paul George loves to fish. It was one of the first things he mentioned when discussing his excitement of spending at least a year in Oklahoma City. On Sunday afternoon, George held his first annual celebrity fishing tournament.

Joining him was Russell Westbrook, Josh Huestis, Yannis Morin, Sam Presti and other Thunder staff members.

This is important for various reasons:

Russ and PG are quickly becoming friends (hopefully).

George doesn’t mind having the Thunder help sponsor the event, even though the others (Gatorade, Bass Pro Shop and The Player’s Tribune) have been involved in his life for much longer. It shows they’ve made a fairly good impression on him.

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The Oklahoma City organization is doing EVERYTHING in their power to convince George this is where he wants to be. They will be by his side in every public event – that doesn’t include all the private communication the two sides have had.

Hopefully Huestis is hanging around George at all times. The Thunder need him to unequivocally win the backup small forward spot.

Morin, the relatively unknown French big, is the newest player in the organization. The 23-year old is not going to be on the NBA team this year, but his involvement with events like this show they see a lot of upside with him.

Put it this way: George didn’t have to include the Thunder on this event.

It’s his “first annual” fishing derby, so this will continue for the next few years. Hopefully the Thunder continue to sponsor the event for the next few years.