Chris Paul says he’s “at peace” with the Clippers’ decision to “part ways” with him and is looking forward to his next NBA opportunity, according to Jordan Greene of People Magazine (hat tip to ESPN).
“I’m actually at peace with everything,” he said. “More than anything, I’m excited about being around and getting a chance to play a small role in whatever anything looks like next.”
On a related subject, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue denies reports that he wasn’t on speaking terms with Paul.
“That ain’t true,” Lue said, per Clippers beat writer Joey Linn (Twitter video link). “We were talking. How he gonna play and I’m not talking to him? There was a stretch when he wasn’t gonna play and be out of the rotation, it was tough for him because he’s a competitor.”
Lue added he wasn’t part of the final conversation with Paul when the future Hall of Famer was told by team officials that he was no longer welcome around the club. Lue added that Clippers players aren’t happy about the decision but he has “no problem with Chris.”
Here’s more on the Los Angeles teams:
- Lakers guard Marcus Smart is not on the injury report for the team’s NBA Cup game against the Spurs on Wednesday. Smart missed the last six games due to a back ailment. “Back is feeling good. Felt good in practice today … I’m gonna give it a shot tomorrow and see how it feels,” Smart said, according to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell (Twitter link).
- In fact, the Lakers could be at full strength on Wednesday. Maxi Kleber (lumbar muscle strain) is the only player who is considered questionable to play, NBA insider Marc Stein tweets.
- LeBron James scored 29 points — a season high — against Philadelphia on Sunday, including 10 straight points in the fourth quarter. The Lakers forward feels he’s rounding into form, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “At 40 years old, I mean, it just takes a while for my body to kind of get back into a rhythm,” James said. “And so it felt good (Sunday) to kind of feel like myself a little bit.”
Lue wasn’t beefing with CP3? It was all lies? The plot thickens…
link to nypost.com
He was beefing with team. Their losing .. so they say. I know Harden ran Chris out of Houston..
link to nypost.com
Al I gotta tell you, James Harden and his effects on the NBA have been nothing but negative. The worst purveyor of grifterball (like, at least SGA plays defense and can pass/actually run the point and include his teammates). No rings. Horrible work ethic. Quits on every team. Never deserved that MVP over Steph that year. Every last thing about Harden sucks and isn’t enjoyable to watch, aside from his 3 point shooting. I wish we could blacklist Harden like MLB did with Barry Bonds.
Jebron Lames!
A fully healthy Maxi Kleber? Look out, San Antonio!
Chris Paul should have retired two years ago.
He could make more money in FO, head coach, and make hall of fame sooner., and spend more time with his family. Yeah, his ego wasted couple yrs.
Or maybe he just wanted to keep playing the game that he loves a little longer?
Clippers have to blow this thing up and start over again. Lue is obviously going to get fired, probably Frank as well. This whole Kawhi contract situation, Balmer’s scuzziness, this Chris Paul debacle… time to close the book on this iteration, everyone but Balmer (only because he’s the owner) has to go.