The Los Angeles Clippers are moving on from longtime star guard Chris Paul, ending his brief reunion with the franchise amid a difficult start to the year.
Paul, who turns 40 this season and has already said he will retire at the end of the campaign, confirmed late Tuesday that he had been sent home during the team’s road trip. “Just found out I’m being sent home,” he posted on Instagram, as the Clippers prepared to face the Atlanta Hawks.
Clippers president Lawrence Frank issued a statement early Wednesday acknowledging the separation. “We are parting ways with Chris and he will no longer be with the team,” he said, adding that the organization would support him “on the next step of his career.” Frank praised Paul as a franchise icon and stressed, “No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now.”
Paul’s exit comes amid reporting that his leadership style “clashed” with teammates and that he had not spoken with head coach Ty Lue “for several weeks,” according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. “Chris Paul and his leadership style clashed with the Clippers, sources tell ESPN. Paul has been vocal in holding management, coaches and players accountable, which the team felt became disruptive. Specifically: Ty Lue was not on speaking terms with Paul for several weeks.”
The veteran signed a one-year, $3.6 million deal last summer to return to the Clippers, calling the decision a “no-brainer.” Paul previously spent six seasons in Los Angeles, where he became the club’s all-time assists leader and remains among its top scorers and defenders. Across his 21-year career, he has earned 12 All-Star nods and led the league multiple times in both assists and steals.
Used primarily off the bench this season — only the second time in his career he has played a reserve role — Paul averaged 2.9 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds in 16 appearances. He posted eight points and three assists in Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat, a defeat that extended the Clippers’ skid. Los Angeles holds the second-worst record in the Western Conference after dropping five straight and eight of its last nine.
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