A brief moment of a season-opening packed house revealed part of why the atmosphere for the first meeting between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers was so electric. Rich Paul of Klutch Sports got up from his front-row seat to dap up Paul George, who was sitting on the visitor's bench nursing injuries to his shoulders. Their impromptu salute was not flying with Clippers assistant coach Tyronn Lue, who seemed to refuse to shake Paul's hand as he escorted George back to the huddle:
Ty Lue and Rich Paul 🤣
(via nickp_13th/IG)pic.twitter.com/KNwhKeLRgu
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 23, 2019
Whether it was Lue not being fond of in-game fraternizing due to the heated rivalry between the Clippers and Lakers, or if he has his own reasons for not shaking Paul's hand, that's a complete mystery. But Lue's dissent was quite pronounced after looking Paul up and down before walking away.
Lue has plenty of reasons to not be in a joyous mood with Paul, as it was he who helped orchestrate LeBron James' exit from Cleveland, which resulted in Lue losing his job quickly into the season. Paul also represents JR Smith and Tristan Thompson, two veteran players he reeled in as a result of playing on the same team as James.
The same is true for Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, both teammates of James under Paul's representation with Klutch Sports.
Coaches and front offices have grown displeasured with Paul's negotiation maneuvers and the way he operates. It could well be that Lue is just another one of them that isn't fond of his ways.
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