According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, Chris Paul and Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy had multiple verbal incidents this season.
During the Clippers’ loss to the Dallas Mavericks on November 29, Paul approached Kawhi Leonard and told him to switch off of Klay Thompson and that didn’t sit well with Van Gundy.
“It was in the fourth quarter. Kawhi Leonard is on a minute restriction. And sources told me that when he was guarding Klay Thompson, he was struggling when he got into the game after sitting down for a while. He was struggling keeping up with Klay Thompson,” Haynes said. “And so there was a timeout called late in that fourth quarter, and during the fourth quarter and during that timeout, Chris Paul went to Kawhi Leonard and said, ‘Hey man, are you fresh enough? You feel good? You feel like you can stick with Klay Thompson?’
“And he asked his teammates, ‘Hey, ya’ll might want to switch this. Wait till he gets warm until he goes and guards Klay.’ And so they ended up switching the matchup, the assignment. And so the next day, Jeff Van Gundy, the assistant coach for the Clippers, he called a meeting with Chris Paul on the plane the next day and he asked Chris Paul if he changed up the defensive assignment yesterday.
“And Chris said, ‘No, I didn’t change up the assignment. I just suggested hey, we might want to have somebody else guarding Klay right now cuz Kawhi is not warm yet.’
“And so I was told that Jeff Van Gundy told Chris Paul, ‘Listen, you might have had leeway in other places to be able to change up defensive coverages, but you don’t have that leeway here.’ And that was just one of the minor, verbal incidents between Jeff Vandy and Chris Paul. That was one of a few.”
Paul played in 16 games this season for the Clippers. He averaged 2.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
To move on from Paul, the Clippers will have to waive him and pay out his $3.6 million salary, agree to a buyout or trade him, which they can’t execute until December 15.
Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and James Harden grew “sick and tired” of Paul, NBA sources told DallasHoopsJournal.
Paul, who was sent home by the Clippers while the team was in Atlanta to face the Hawks, was criticizing players, coaches and front office members nonstop, sources said.