Chris Paul's unceremonious exit from the Los Angeles Clippers has been the subject of discussion for the last few days. In a move that completely took the NBA world by surprise, Paul was cut by Los Angeles seemingly out of the blue. Even Paul himself was surprised by the move. The ensuing chaos has brought to light the dysfunction in the current Clippers team.
Had we looked a little bit deeper earlier this year, we might have seen that the cracks were starting to show. Back in late November, Paul posted a cryptic IG story. In the story, the Clippers star just put a screenshot of the definition of the word “leeway”. Fans, of course, were confused about what was going on.
Well, Chris Haynes is here to give us the lowdown on what exactly happened. The insider said that the cryptic post came after a disagreement between Paul and coach Jeff Van Gundy. Paul's suggested defensive coverage against the Mavericks was not taken well by Van Gundy, leading to an argument between the two.
“Jeff Van Gundy called a meeting on the plane with Chris Paul and asked him if he changed the defensive assignment,” Haynes said on the NBA on Prime show. “Chris said, ‘No, I didn’t change the assignment. I just suggested we might want someone else on Klay because Kawhi wasn’t warm yet.'”
Van Gundy didn't take too kindly to Paul's comments, saying, “You might have had leeway in other places to change defensive coverages, but you don’t have that leeway here.”
Once one of the most respected players in Clippers history, it's sad to see Paul's final year fizzle out like this. The veteran has already taken a bench role this season due to his struggles. Unfortunately, it seems like Paul and this current team are just not a good fit. They currently have a 6-17 record through the first few months of the season.
