After an unceremonious end to Chris Paul’s NBA career, many people are expressing their thoughts on how it all went down

While many famous athletes get glamorous farewell tours, the same can’t be said for Chris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star and 11-time All-NBA.

For his 21st season, Paul resigned with the Los Angeles Clippers on July 21, after previously playing for them from 2011-2017, and was a key part of the “Lob City” Clippers. After 16 games, though, where Paul averaged 2.9 PPG, 3.3 APG and 1.8 RPG, the Clippers sent him home Dec. 3 before trading him to the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 5, where he was eventually waived without playing a game for Toronto.

Paul announced his retirement after being waived, which has caused fans and players alike to express frustration over how Paul’s career ended.

“To see the career end the way it did, I think it’s BS,” Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said. “I see all the reports. I don’t know the ins and outs of everything, obviously, that’s not my job. But I know, when you have a guy like that, there’s a level that he has to be held to. And I think he wasn’t given that opportunity, which I think is messed up.”

After Paul announced his retirement, the Clippers posted a tribute video on their social media in honor of Paul. Many pointed out the hypocrisy of the Clippers posting this video when they were the team responsible for Paul’s unceremonious end.

One of these people was Paul’s wife, Jada Pau,l who let the team know her thoughts when she commented “Girl, bye.” on the Clippers Instagram post. The comment has over 2,900 likes on it.

Chris Paul’s wife, Jada Paul, commented on the Clippers post on Instagram:

“Girl, bye.”

CP3’s family & friends won’t forget what the Clippers did. We won’t either. https://t.co/dzpzG2poTP pic.twitter.com/GxJeTPsGV5

— CP3REGION (@CP3REGION) February 14, 2026

Some of the other comments from fans include: “Yall got the nerve to post this after waiving him. Should’ve let him retire there.,” “audacity at an all time high smfh. deserved way better.” and “As a clippers fan myself, SYBAU ADMIN🫩.”

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Furthermore, the Clippers were one of the last teams to post a tribute video for Chris Paul, according to Yahoo Sports.

“He’s a hell of a person, hell of a point guard, hell of a player,” Mitchell said. “And he’s done so much for this game, as a player, on the PA [Players Association] as the president. He’s done so much for us.”

Making a tribute video for Chris Paul when you’re the same team that told him to go home And not come back is nasty work https://t.co/bppa73y1Cz

— John (@iam_johnw) February 14, 2026

Despite all the people upset with the Clippers, one person defending the team’s actions is Kendrick Perkins, an ESPN analyst and 15-year NBA player. During ESPN’s “First Take,” Perkins said Chris Paul isn’t being held accountable for his role in the fallout between him and the team.

What Perkins is referring to is that Chris Paul and Head Coach Ty Lue were allegedly not on speaking terms in the weeks leading up to when Chris Paul was sent home because “Paul and his leadership style clashed with Lue,” according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

“No one is bringing up how he went behind Ty Lue’s back in talking to the young fellas and undermining the coaching staff and basically telling the young guys not to listen to the coaches,” Perkins said.

Another one of Perkins’ points was how the Clippers turned their season around not long after Chris Paul was let go.

“That’s not called veteran leadership,” Perkins said. “Then, all of a sudden, magically, when they do get rid of CP3, the Clippers go on a run? I think they went 17-5 in 22 games to get back in the thick of things.”

Despite these rumors, nothing official has been confirmed, and Lawrence Frank, Clippers President of Basketball Operations, said there was no one incident that caused the team to send Chris Paul home.