The beginning of the 2025-26 season has been an outright disaster for the Los Angeles Clippers.
They sit at 6-16 as of Dec. 4, with their unprotected first-round pick for 2026 slated to go to the Oklahoma City Thunder. James Harden is turning back the clock, averaging 27.5 points per game to give them a chance to stay in games, and yet the losses continue to pile up. The Clippers, who have the league’s oldest roster, have been riddled with injuries.
Yet somehow, things have gotten even worse for the Clippers. On Dec. 3, the team announced it will be moving on from franchise legend Chris Paul.
“I’m being sent home.”
“Just found out I’m being sent home,” Paul wrote on Instagram, without any further explanation.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1996133071499001935?s=20
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the reason for Paul’s departure stemmed from his leadership style not meshing well with the organization.
Paul reportedly clashed with players, management, and even head coach Ty Lue. Charania reported that Lue and Paul have not been on speaking terms for weeks.
Plainly, the Clippers are sending Paul home for attempting to hold a 6-16 team accountable for severely underperforming this season.
This season was supposed to be Paul’s retirement tour. He planned to finish his basketball journey with the franchise he spent most of his career with. The Clippers blatantly disrespecting a 40-year-old franchise legend is going to haunt the organization for years to come, as this season is already a lost cause.
The Clippers are used to this
This isn’t even the first time the Clippers have soured a relationship with a franchise legend. Blake Griffin wanted to finish his career in Los Angeles as well. He made that clear when he signed a five-year, $117 million deal in June 2017. Just seven months later, Los Angeles shockingly traded him to the Detroit Pistons.
Ironically, Griffin had his best season during his first full year in Detroit. However, his career after that magical 2019 season was short-lived due to injuries.
That decision was compounded a a mistake for the Clippers, as the team used the 2018 first-round pick they acquired from Detroit to draft Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who the team traded less than a year later.
Griffin also does not appear to be on speaking terms with the organization since his retirement, likely stemming from the trade that ended his Clippers tenure.
The Clippers are likely going to see the same thing happen with Paul, who chose to come back to Los Angeles in free agency to finish his career with the team.
It’s hard to see a reality in which Paul will forgive the Clippers for ruining his retirement tour, and it seems like the organization will have to wait even longer to send a Clippers jersey number into retirement.
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