Around 3 a.m. on Dec. 3, the Los Angeles Clippers released Chris Paul. The move came just over a day after the Clippers dropped to 5–16 following a 140–123 loss against the Atlanta Hawks.
This all comes in a season where the unprotected rights to the Clippers’ first round pick belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are, at 24–1, currently tied for the best record 25 games into a season in NBA history.
Meanwhile, this past offseason, the Clippers decided to go all in, albeit with an aging core: signing Paul and veterans Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez to go along with the team’s core of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. With these additions, the Clippers roster had an average age of 30.7 years old on opening day, making them the oldest team in NBA history.
Yet, amid a nightmarish start, the franchise decided to release Paul and have him serve as a sacrificial lamb, a scapegoat to throw at the media to blame for the poor performance on the court.
Paul, who tipped off his 21st NBA season at 40 years old this year, was by no means playing elite basketball. Prior to his unexpected release, Paul averaged 2.9 points and 3.3 assists per game in a career-low 14.3 minutes.
Paul’s role was expected to be small. His 1,354 games played prior to this season had already secured him 16th all-time. A little over a week earlier, Paul announced he would retire at the conclusion of this season. And despite that, the Clippers couldn’t keep him on board their sinking ship.
In December 2011, Paul was traded to the Clippers from the New Orleans Hornets. At the time, Paul was an elite two-way guard coming off a season where he averaged 15.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. At 27 years old, Paul was the franchise-altering player the Clippers desperately needed.
In his six-year tenure with the Clippers, Paul cemented himself as one of the franchise greats. He lead the Clippers to the playoffs all six seasons after the team had only clawed their way out of the lottery one time in the previous 14 seasons combined. Paul earned the nickname “The Point God” early on in his career, and alongside Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the trio became known as “Lob City,” sparking an identity for the franchise. For the first time, Los Angeles was not run by the Lakers, but by the Clippers, in large part because of Paul’s acquisition. He had reinvigorated basketball for Clippers fans.
Although the Clippers never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, Paul averaged 18.2 points, 9.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in his six seasons with the franchise. His uncanny ability to score in the pick-and-roll and create for his teammates led him to being named a four-time First Team All-Pro, a three-time Second Team All-Pro, and a one-time Third Team All-Pro, while being named to the All-Defensive First Team in every season but one with the Clippers. During this time frame, Paul had a strong case for being the best point guard in the NBA.
When Paul signed with the Clippers this season, many fans and players around the league assumed tentatively it could serve as a farewell tour for Paul, a way for the franchise and league icon to go out with a franchise he had an undeniable impact on.
However, in the waning hours of the night, Paul’s unexpected release was broken through his own Instagram story, which read, “Just found out I’m being sent home.”
Shams Charania, a lead NBA reporter for ESPN, reported on the morning of Dec. 3 that tension has been building this season between Paul, the coaching staff, and ownership.
“Chris Paul and his leadership style clashed with the Clippers,” Charania wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Paul has been vocal in holding management, coaches, and players accountable, which the team felt became disruptive. Specifically: [Head Coach] Ty Lue was not on speaking terms with Paul for several weeks.”
Paul had been in and out of Lue’s rotation to start the season, but severing ties so early on in the season seems like a panic move from the franchise.
In a statement released by the Clippers the morning after the news broke, the team attempted to deflect some of the flack it had received overnight.
“We will work with him on the next step of his career,” Lawerence Frank, Clippers president of basketball operations, said in a statement. “Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No-one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise .”
Over the past fews days, Paul, a 12-time total All-Star, has come to terms with the decision.
“Stuff’s been a little crazy in the past few days — to say the least,” Paul told People. “I’m actually at peace with everything. More than anything, I’m excited about being around and getting a chance to play a small role in whatever anything looks like next.”
Lue has also revealed to the media in recent days that the reported state of his relationship with Paul and the two not being on speaking terms for weeks was not true.
“That ain’t true,” Lue said to reporters on Dec. 9. “How [is] he [going to] play and I’m not talking to him?”
Lue added that he was not a part of the final conversation to release Paul and that Clippers players are unhappy with the decision.
When asked why the relationship could not be mended, Lue told reports, “You got to ask Lawrence [Frank].”
Currently 14th in the Western Conference standings, the Clippers’ season has been a disaster. The additional negative press of the Paul debacle comes on the heels of the alleged false investment in Aspiration as a way to bypass max-contract restrictions for Leonard.
As of early December, the Clippers sit three games back of the 10th seed while not owning their first round pick. The failure looms over the front office, and trickles down to coaches, players, and fans. It seems like the least they could have done is stuck with Paul to give him a semblance of a farewell tour, a tour he will hopefully find as we head toward the midway point in the NBA season.