Chris Paul watches during the Emirates NBA Cup semifinals.
Chris Paul watches during the Emirates NBA Cup semifinals.
Key Points
A tense call with Coach Lue and a public apology failed to mend team relationships.
The LA Clippers’ decision to send Chris Paul home and eventually part ways with the veteran point guard in early December followed weeks of tense interactions inside the organization. Central to the unraveling was a lengthy November phone call with coach Tyronn Lue and a public apology Paul offered to teammates on Nov. 11.
Paul returned to the Clippers this past summer on a one-year deal that many around the NBA viewed as a sentimental capstone to a Hall of Fame career. The fit, however, was never fully aligned.
After the season-opening blowout by the Utah Jazz(129-108), Paul tried to spark a postgame locker-room conversation but got little response from a veteran Clippers group. A few nights later, he and his wife hosted a small Halloween gathering for players and staff. The gesture was praised, but few attended.
The team then lost repeatedly over the next two weeks, including three defeats (two to the Phoenix Suns, one to the Oklahoma City Thunder) against teams Paul had recently played for. He questioned management why he was not consulted to strategize.
“The question, or perhaps its delivery, was not thought to be constructive, sources said.” Ramona Shelburne of ESPN wrote on Tuesday.
The day after Paul was benched for the second half of a game in Phoenix, he met with President Lawrence Frank, pressing concerns about the team’s culture and lack of off-court cohesion. Frank warned that Paul’s style was being viewed as subversive.
The November Call With Tyronn Lue and What It Revealed
“Later that day, Paul and Lue talked on the phone for 40 minutes. It was their final substantive conversation before Paul was sent home nearly a month later, on Dec. 2. (Every other interaction was short or via text, sources said),” Shelburne wrote.
“The call began with Paul asking Lue why he’d been benched for the second half of the Clippers’ game the night before, a game in which the Clippers led by three points at the half only to lose by 13.”
Los Angeles Clippers Head Coach Tyronn Lue speaks to the media. — Source: © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Lue countered that Paul’s tone had been too critical and that the point guard needed to acknowledge how his communication was being perceived. The call, intended to clear the air, did not resolve the underlying tensions.
Rather than closing the gap, the exchange preceded a stretch in which Paul saw limited court time and, at times, icy interactions with staff and coaches.
The Apology, Aftermath And Wider Reaction
On Nov. 8, tensions bubbled on the bench with associate coach Jeff Van Gundy and led to further meetings the following day, during which Paul received a “final warning” about divisiveness but was ultimately allowed to address the team as Frank sought to facilitate reconciliation with Lue.
“On Nov. 11, an off day after a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Paul stood in front of the team and apologized if he’d come off as too negative or divisive.” Shelburne wrote.
That was an explicit attempt to soothe frayed relationships and to reset perceptions around his leadership, but it proved to be short-lived.
Voices inside and outside the organization questioned whether the Clippers could have handled the matter with greater discretion, given Paul’s standing in franchise history.
The team has defended the decision as the product of multiple discussions and a judgment about what was best for the roster. Club officials said the split was about fit rather than a single incident.
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