It has been a week since the Los Angeles Clippers abruptly sent Chris Paul home in the middle of their East Coast trip, but the reverberations of the shocking move remain. The Chris Paul saga remains unresolved as he can’t be traded until December 15 and the Clippers don’t want to waive him for roster spot and financial concerns. Until the situation is fully resolved and Paul is on a new team, the Clippers decision-makers will have to answer questions about the mess they have created.
On Tuesday, head coach Ty Lue provided new remarks on the situation. Joey Linn of Clippers on SI reported that Lue denied the reports about him and Paul not speaking for weeks, saying “that ain’t true. How is he going to play and I’m not talking to him?”
Ty Lue says the report about him and Chris Paul not speaking for weeks isn’t true:
“That ain’t true. How he gonna play and I’m not talking to him? There was a stretch when he wasn’t gonna play and be out of the rotation, it was tough for him because he’s a competitor.”
Lue said… pic.twitter.com/QU92WVgnA5
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) December 9, 2025Ty Lue Fails to Shed Any More Light into Abrupt Chris Paul Decision
Lue may be deliberately obtuse in this situation. When ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Lue and Paul were not in speaking terms, he presumably didn’t mean that Lue wasn’t coaching Paul. There were surely the usual instructions and interactions between any head coach and a player. Whether that counts as being on speaking terms with someone is a different debate.
The Clippers head coach then went on to add that he wasn’t a part of the final conversation with Paul and that he has “no problems with Chris”, before adding that the reporters need to ask GM Lawrence Frank why the situation was unsalvageable.
The more frustrating aspect of all of this is the fact that Clippers fans still haven’t directly heard from Lue or Lawrence about what went down between Paul and the leadership. Most of the things the fans heard about the situation have come from reporters. Considering that CP3 is arguably the greatest player in franchise history and someone who should have his jersey retired at Intuit Dome, Clippers fans deserve to hear more about why Paul was treated this way.
Besides the generic answers about the decision being about fit and coachspeak about Paul being a good leader and a competitor, we still know little about the situation. Knowing Chris Paul and his vocal leadership style, fans can read between the lines and figure out what happened. Not hearing it from the Clippers’ top brass, however, has been infuriating. Lue’s latest comments continue to fail to shed any more light about the decision as he insists on not being transparent about why the situation was not unable to be reconciled.
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