Clippers stars James Harden and Kawhi Leonard learned of the team’s split with Chris Paul via social media and told reporters on Wednesday that the news came as a surprise, according to reports from Joe Vardon of The Athletic and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
“I’m just as confused and shocked as you guys, the world,” Harden said after the Clippers’ win over Atlanta. “Definitely surprised me. But not just Chris, it’s a lot that we were dealing with. But that is out of my hands. I got to focus on what I got to focus on and what I can control. I guess the front office felt that was the best decision for the organization.”
“It was shocking to me,” Leonard said, adding that he had to re-read the news. “I guess they had a conversation, and front office made a decision.”
Reporting on Wednesday indicated that tension between Paul and head coach Tyronn Lue was one of the factors that contributed to the team’s decision to part ways with the veteran point guard. Lue addressed the situation prior to the Clippers’ game vs. Atlanta, telling reporters that this isn’t the outcome he was hoping for when L.A. signed Paul over the summer.
“Do I want to see CP go out like this? No, I have a lot of respect for him,” Lue said. “He’s been a friend of mine over the years, and you don’t want to see a great go out like this. I’m pretty sure he will find something because he’s a great player. [But] I didn’t want to see it end like this.
“… I don’t like it. It just didn’t work out like we thought it would. I don’t like it for CP. It just wasn’t a good fit, and we understood that. It was an organization (decision), they made the choice and so moving forward, we got to see what we do.”
Vardon, Sam Amick, and Law Murray of The Athletic shared more details on how the relationship between the Clippers and Paul deteriorated to the point that a divorce was necessary. Here are a few highlights from their report:
- Paul’s “constant criticism” of the team was felt in “every corner” of the organization during the first several weeks of the season as the Clippers got off to a disappointing start. League sources tell The Athletic that members of the organization – including some teammates, as well as Lue and his coaching staff – took exception to the “acerbic” and “disparaging” nature of Paul’s perspective.
- While Paul has been known to be an effective mentor to young players in the past, there weren’t many young players on the Clippers’ roster for him to take that role with, and his criticisms frequently came off as a “grating” and unhelpful among a group heavy on veteran players and coaches, league sources tell The Athletic.
- Paul had multiple meetings with Clippers officials in recent weeks, with one source telling The Athletic that the club wanted him to stop “locker room lawyering.” League sources also told The Athletic that CP3 was “openly critical” of the team during a film session on Tuesday, though by that point the front officed had already made the decision to part ways with him.
- When the Clippers signed Paul over the summer, they went to great lengths to manage his expectations for his role – which would be a modest one – in the hopes of avoiding a situation like this. Because he signed as a free agent, he’s not trade-eligible until December 15, so it remains to be seen whether the team will wait until then to try to work out a deal or if he’ll be waived earlier than that. President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said during a media session on Wednesday that the club will work with Paul’s representatives to determine next steps.
If the Knicks wanted Brogdon on their roster, wouldn’t this make sense for them? Hard to believe Paul is really a locker room cancer…
CP3 has been criticized at other organizations before this one. And very similar behavior led to him being shipped out of Houston.
“Cancer” is a strong word for someone that means well. But he’s been consistently been reported as an unpleasant and overly critical presence on many teams.
If CP3 going to play backup PG he needs to set more modest expectations. I don’t see that happening.
I don’t think Knicks want him in their clubhouse. Mike Brown is still putting his stamp on the team and Brunson is the captain.
Tyler Kolek is starting to play well with regular minutes. Knicks are hoping they have their backup PG on the roster already with Kolek.
I can’t think of a single team that would want CP3 after this Clippers debacle.
Tyler Kolek? For a team with aspirations of a long playoff run now, I can’t imagine that off a very limited sample size, Mike Brown is like yeah, we’re good here.
Harden would rather be at a strip club and Kawhi’s a flat out liar.. clowns with lip service.
Clown Show Clips
I call B.S! Messy business this Clippers team!
Clips are making it harder on themselves every day. Can’t imagine wanting to sign there as an FA, especially if I had comparable offers literally anywhere else.
Chris Paul is who he is.
I don’t think there was a huge market for him over the summer.
Would doubt, after this, there would be any market for him at all.
“It only takes ONE team”…
I think the Clippers WERE that one team.
I don’t buy this, because as much as I buy the Clips being dysfunctional, this would be another level of stupid. Not like letting Harden or Leonard launch a coup is god either, but tall about mucking up the culture in the locker room.
lol Harden and Leonard. They probably helped it a long. Leonard seems like a guy who would ask *someone else* to take care of their problem.
I can see both sides. Chris Paul can be very grating but the Clippers are the organization that traded Blake Griffin five months after giving him a big presentation about him retiring as a Clipper to get him to stay.
“League sources also told The Athletic that CP3 was “openly critical” of the team during a film session on Tuesday, though by that point the front officed had already made the decision to part ways with him.”
Because we all know the purpose of film sessions is to sing kumbaya!
My guess is CP3 was exposing Lue for what he is, an NBA Only HC. He can’t really help any team when it needs a real HC. He’s not a teenage girl. He’s a coach, or he’s being paid as one, and thus doesn’t have the right to not be on speaking terms with one of his players.
At least he wanted them to win. I don’t think Kahwi/Harden really give a damn. Just loving that life. This franchise has always been a joke but it’s not funny anymore.
The two stars on the team are shocked by this despite reports that the head coach wasn’t on speaking terms with CP3? They weren’t aware of this tension?
Sounds ludicrous.