Chris Paul’s NBA career is over after 21 seasons, and his retirement will be remembered for quite some time.
Paul officially retired last Friday shortly after being waived by the Toronto Raptors. However, his last game was a few months ago against the Los Angeles Clippers, who signed him for his final season in the NBA before benching him, sending him home and trading him to Toronto.
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Paul discussed his departure from the Clippers on his friend Carmelo Anthony’s podcast “Brooklyn at 7 PM,” which was filmed over the weekend. The podcast had released only portions of the interview on social media as of Tuesday evening, but Paul’s comments painted a picture of a relationship that moved quickly from friendly to contentious.
As Paul told it, he reached out to Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank to express his interest in finishing his career in Los Angeles, where he was a five-time All-Star in his prime.
This reunion makes for a beautiful story. No one expects Paul to replicate his old numbers with the Clippers, but worst-case scenario, he could provide the Clippers with point guard depth while providing veteran experience, cementing his legacy as one of the franchise’s greatest players, and playing close to his family in Los Angeles.
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Apparently everything was going according to plan at one point during the season, when Paul claimed Frank praised his leadership:
“Lawrence Frank sent me an article earlier this season about how great my leadership was, which I had never seen before. He texted me and said, ‘Man, this is great leadership.'”
However, as we learned after Paul was benched, Paul and Lue clearly had some major communication issues. The two reportedly clashed over Paul’s attempts to provide his own guidance to team members, and allegedly didn’t come to an agreement by the end, although Lue denied the latter part.
However, Paul confirmed that some members of the Clippers organization don’t want him to advise players:
“During training camp, I was talking to a teammate for a while, and then, as soon as I walked into the cafeteria, someone came up to me and told me they didn’t want me to give advice to the players. So I told them, ‘You’re my assistant coach and I know you.'” But it was an iterative process. “
Paul likely used the phrase “I know you” in reference to Lue, as Lue was an assistant on the Clippers’ coaching staff during Paul’s first tenure.
Chris Paul’s second term didn’t go as smoothly as his first. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
(David Jensen via Getty Images)
When the topic of the Clippers retiring Paul’s jersey number came up — something that would be extremely embarrassing any time in the near future — Paul said Frank actually said his number should be retired … before laying down the ax. He also said Frank had not scheduled a meeting with Lue, suggesting there may be something in the report they didn’t talk about:
“[Frank] Before he sent me home, he said this to me… Before I left the room, I asked him, “L-Frank, you said you were going to have a meeting between me and T-Lue, right?” He said, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t do that. Go home. ‘”
It’s unclear how Paul’s relationship with the Clippers will develop in the future. The team released a tribute video for him after he announced his retirement, so they may have been willing to reconcile, but no one would blame Paul for keeping some distance as long as the current leadership is in place.
