The Los Angeles Clippers have had quite the summer. The NBA finally handed down a substantial punishment last week after wrapping up a year-long investigation into cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. The league hit the Clippers with a $50 million fine, suspended Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank and, most importantly, stripped them of five future first-round picks.
Despite the apparent resolution of Leonard’s situation, the Clippers have yet to finalize their trade of Leonard to the Raptors that has been verbally agreed to for months. Those big picture issues hang over the Clippers as training camp inches closer, but on Thursday a new controversy in Clipper-land appeared when the Clippers team store began selling authentic Bradley Beal jerseys with the No. 3 — which has not been worn by any other Clipper than Chris Paul since 2011.
Beal wore the No. 3 for his entire career in Washington and Phoenix before changing to No. 0 with the Clippers last season — as he arrived with Paul on the roster. However, after Paul’s bizarre and messy exit from the Clippers in the middle of last season, which ended up being the future Hall of Famer’s last, Beal is now switching back to his longtime held number that most assumed would be unofficially retired until it went into the rafters for Paul. Paul spent seven of his 21 NBA seasons with the Clippers (2011-2017, 2026), and CP3 is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists.
The Clippers, for what it’s worth, are the only NBA team without any retired numbers in their history.
Unsurprisingly, Beal taking the No. 3 has not gone over well with some Clipper fans, and Beal even took to social media to respond to the criticism.
Beal re-signed with the Clippers this summer on a two-year deal worth over $13 million after declining his player option on the contract he signed last summer after getting bought out by the Suns. Beal played in just six games with the Clippers in 2025-26 due to a hip injury that derailed his season.
Given the way Paul’s attempted farewell tour ended last year, this seems like another unnecessary slight at one of the franchise’s legends with little upside. We’ve seen frosty relationships between players and the teams they once starred for before, most notably with Kevin Garnett refusing to participate in a jersey retirement ceremony in Minnesota until after Glen Taylor sold the team — he’ll finally allow the No. 21 go into the rafters this coming season. One can’t help but wonder if Paul and the Clippers might be headed to a similar post-retirement relationship with the way the last year has transpired, with Beal taking his number potentially widening the rift between the franchise and its one-time star.