INGLEWOOD, CA — Chris Paul was officially introduced as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday afternoon. His signing means he'll be joining James Harden and Kawhi Leonard on the franchise he helped put on the map last decade.
Some of the biggest question marks following his addition were about his relationship with James Harden, who he played two seasons with in Texas.
Clippers' Chris Paul opens up on relationship with James Harden
Harden and Paul joined forces for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons on the Houston Rockets, nearly taking down the Golden State Warriors team that featured Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
Houston fell short both years, with reports that Chris Paul and James Harden clashed over differences in leadership and philosophical styles. The Rockets traded Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook in an attempt to give Harden a better fitting running mate.
To this day, clips on social media can be found where Chris Paul and James Harden are seen going back and forth with one another on the Rockets bench in what many assume was a strong disagreement.
During his introductory press conference on Monday evening, Paul was asked by ClutchPoints about that incident and about what it would mean to join sides with Harden once again.
“Yeah, we talked about it,” Paul told ClutchPoints. “And we talked about just the history of obviously being there in Houston. And it's funny man, for that clip that goes around, there was a lot of stuff, funnier stuff than that. That was just sort of our relationship. But I think that's what made that team so good. We got on each other in different situations, but that team, I can honestly say it was one of the most fun teams I've ever been on in my career.”
I asked Chris Paul about his relationship with James Harden, who he says he’s had conversations with and is looking forward to teaming up with him on the Clippers.
“We definitely have unfinished business, so we get a chance to see what’s going on here.” pic.twitter.com/7u6iKljoQf
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) July 28, 2025
During those years, the Rockets played a heliocentric style that saw Harden and Paul dominate the ball while surrounding them with three-and-D types of players to space out the floor.
Despite not winning a championship, the duo of Paul and Harden had a pretty successful run with the Rockets.
James Harden won the MVP award in the 2018-19 season with Chris Paul as his teammate. That season saw one of the most prolific offensive displays in modern NBA history, where Harden averaged 36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. His 24.5 field goal attempts per game were the most shot attempts averaged per game since Kobe Bryant in 2005-06.
Chris Paul averaged 17.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.3 made three-pointers per game in his two seasons with the Rockets. Paul has only had three seasons in which he averaged two or more made three-pointers per game — two came in both of his Rockets years and the only other one was in 2016-17 where he averaged exactly 2.0 per game.
“James [Harden] is one of those guys that loves to be in the gym all day long,” Chris Paul added. “So it's wild that you get this opportunity again after those two years and the success that we had and we definitely know we have unfinished business, so we get a chance to see what’s going on here.”
This offseason, the Clippers saw the additions of Bradley Beal, Brook Lopez, John Collins, and Chris Paul, completely retooling their bench and stacking the best reserves in the game's history.
“I'm just so excited about the moves that the team has made this off season. And Bradley Beal coming to the team, Brook Lopez, all the young guys. I talked to James [Harden], I talked to Kawhi [Leonard], and I'm even more excited about what I think we have a chance to do.”
Chris Paul is expected to play a reserve role with the Clippers, but could certainly find his way to more minutes in situations where Harden or Kawhi Leonard don't play.