Clippers part ways with Chris Paul, ending his final NBA season abruptly. The 40-year-old point guard posted his surprise on Instagram, leaving fans wondering about his next step.
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The Clippers have shockingly decided to part ways with Chris Paul, cutting short his brief return to the team on a one-year deal. The news broke late Tuesday, less than two months into what was supposed to be Paul’s final season in the NBA.
Chris Paul himself shared the surprise on Instagram early Wednesday morning, posting, "Just Found Out I'm Being Sent Home." The 40-year-old point guard was clearly caught off guard by the move.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president, confirmed to ESPN that the team and Paul are going their separate ways. "We will work with him on the next step of his career. Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career," Frank said in the statement.
"I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we’ve struggled. We’re grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise," the statement added.
Right now, the Clippers have a tough season behind them, sitting with a 5-16 record and 14th place in the Western Conference. On Wednesday night, they’ll hit the road to face the Atlanta Hawks, this time without Paul.
This season marked Paul’s 21st in the league, and he had already announced it would be his last. Over the summer, he signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract to return to the Clippers, the team he played with from 2011 to 2017 during a very successful stretch. At the time, he called coming back to LA a “no-brainer.”
So far this season, Paul has only averaged 2.9 points per game. He has appeared in 15 games but hasn’t started any. His most recent game was Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat, where he scored 8 points and had 3 assists.
Known as “CP3” or “The Point God,” Chris Paul is one of the greats of modern basketball. He’s second on the all-time assists list with over 12,500 and has been an NBA All-Star 12 times.
This second run with the Clippers was supposed to be a farewell tour for a player many consider a future Hall of Famer. But now, with this sudden departure, fans are left wondering how his final NBA chapter will close.
