By GREG BEACHAM
Chris Paul says the Los Angeles Clippers are sending him house from their highway journey, placing a stunning twist on what is predicted to be the veteran level guard’s closing NBA season.
“Just Found Out I’m Being Sent Home,” Paul posted on social media at round 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, including a peace emoji.
The struggling Clippers are in Atlanta for a highway recreation towards the Hawks on Wednesday evening. Los Angeles misplaced at Miami on Monday evening to fall to 5-16 in a wildly disappointing begin to the season.
The 40-year-old Paul is taking part in his twenty first NBA season, and he strongly hinted final month that it is going to be his final. The 12-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist has earned 4 All-NBA first group picks, and he ranks second in NBA historical past with 12,552 assists. He was the primary participant to attain at the very least 20,000 factors whereas recording at the very least 10,000 assists.
He turned arguably probably the most completed participant in Clippers franchise historical past whereas main the group to 6 successful seasons from 2011-17, together with the Clippers’ first two Pacific Division titles and three playoff collection victories. Paul returned to Los Angeles as a free agent final July, rejoining a franchise the place he’s liked by followers whereas having an outdoor probability to contend for his first championship alongside Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ high basketball govt, issued an announcement confirming Paul’s departure to a number of media retailers early Wednesday. He indicated the Clippers will try to commerce Paul, who signed a $3.6 million deal to return to LA.
“We are parting ways with Chris, and he will no longer be a part of the team,” Frank stated. “We will work with him on the next step of his career. Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. 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.”
Paul hasn’t spoken to reporters since he strongly hinted at retirement whereas the Clippers have been again in his native North Carolina. However he acknowledged a video retrospective of his profession performed by the Clippers throughout a timeout at Intuit Dome final week. The video ended with “Congratulations, Point God” on the display screen.
Paul couldn’t actually be blamed for the Clippers’ profound struggles this season as a result of he hasn’t performed a lot.
He’s averaging 2.6 factors and three.3 assists whereas taking part in simply 14.3 minutes per recreation — all profession lows — and he didn’t play in any respect in 5 straight video games in mid-November. Paul had eight factors and three assists whereas taking part in quarter-hour towards the Warmth in what turned out to be his closing recreation with the group — a recreation through which Harden and different starters have been successfully benched, within the newest signal of discord for coach Tyronn Lue’s group.
The Clippers are on a five-game skid, they usually’re tied with Sacramento for the second-worst file within the Western Convention heading into Wednesday’s video games. Leonard has been restricted to 10 video games by accidents, they usually’ve already misplaced guard Bradley Beal to season-ending hip surgical procedure.
The Clippers’ streak of 14 consecutive successful seasons is the longest lively streak within the NBA, however proprietor Steve Ballmer’s membership has but to point out indicators of competition this season — and now they’re going ahead with out a traditionally proficient level guard and franchise favourite.
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