Doc Rivers says Chris Paul wanted to play with James Harden, exit wasn't about Clippers

Superstar guard Chris Paul's exit from the L.A. Clippers present a myriad of angles, but team executive and coach Doc Rivers sets the record straight.

At the wake of Chris Paul‘s trade to the Houston Rockets that sent shockwaves through the Western Conference, L.A. Clippers coach Doc Rivers went on record to clear up the reasons why he really left Lob City.

Much had been made about the floor general's discontent with DeAndre Jordan, not seeing eye-to-eye with Blake Griffin, and a reported animosity toward Austin Rivers, who he saw as Doc's favorite, getting more minutes than others on the court and even more day-to-day stuff like not getting the same amount of yelling from Doc during practices for the same mistakes others made.

“At the end of the day, when you lose a CP, it’s a big loss. I thank him for the years he was here,” said Doc Rivers, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times. “He left because he wanted to be with James Harden. Let’s not get that twisted. I wish him well. I have no problem with that. Do I disagree? Yeah, I think he would have been better served here. But that’s not for me. That’s CP to decide and he decided against that.”

“We’ve heard all the stories about Blake and DJ and Austin. I can’t comment just on Austin because it’s just not right. We’ve heard he left because of all three today. He left because of DJ, he left because of Blake and now he left because of Austin. We know he didn’t leave because of that. There is a lot of speculation on why he left. The one thing I know is he didn’t leave because of any of those three guys. He left because he felt like he would have a better chance to win somewhere else.”

Chances are that with every report, there's a bit of truth in each, but likely blown out of proportion to make a point. Another report by ESPN's SportsCenter anchor Michael Eaves (via Justin Terranova of the New York Post) went as far as to say that “Paul despises Doc” — stemming from his unwillingness to trade his son Austin when he had the chance before the trade deadline last season when the Clippers made a potential push to snag Carmelo Anthony.

With Paul now gone, the Clippers are expected to make hefty offers to keep forward Blake Griffin and shooting guard J.J. Redick, but they might look elsewhere with a team that only got bits and pieces in return for Paul.