At this point, this much is clear: Tyronn Lue didn’t hold a postgame press conference after the Los Angeles Clippers’ loss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

Why the Clippers head coach didn’t speak to reporters, however, depends on who you ask.

According to Yahoo’s Kelly Iko, the Clippers flatly “declined” to make Lue available following his team’s 115-113 defeat. The loss marked Los Angeles’ 11th in the last 13 games and came amid a slew of headlines regarding Lue’s role in Chris Paul’s unceremonious release from the franchise last week.

The Los Angeles Clippers declined to make head coach Tyronn Lue available to the media following Thursday’s 115-113 loss to the Houston Rockets.

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) December 12, 2025

But according to Justin Russo, who covers the Clippers via Substack, the situation was more nuanced than Iko indicated. After reaching out to the team regarding Iko’s report, Russo said he was told that Lue was made available, but that no reporters were in the interview room. The Clippers also indicated that no traveling road media attended the game in Houston.

Replying to Russo’s post, Iko disputed the franchise’s version of events. Per Iko, He and at least three other people — including a Rockets PR representative who was set to transcribe the press conference — were in the interview room immediately after the game and were informed that Lue wouldn’t be speaking, so they left.

“Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Iko replied to Russo. “I went there immediately after the final buzzer. At least four people were in that interview room, including a member of Rockets PR designated to transcribe Lue’s postgame presser. We were told he wouldn’t be speaking and left.”

Couldn’t be further from the truth. I went there immediately after the final buzzer. At least four people were in that interview room, including a member of Rockets PR designated to transcribe Lue’s postgame presser. We were told he wouldn’t be speaking and left.

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) December 12, 2025

While it’s always possible there was a mix-up or misunderstanding, according to Iko’s account, someone informed the people in the interview room that Tyronn Lue wouldn’t be speaking. If Lue did, in fact, decline to speak with reporters, that would be an obvious violation of the NBA’s media policy, which requires head coaches to be available after every game.

Regardless of how it happened, the optics of the Clippers head coach adds yet another negative headline to a season in which the franchise has already been engulfed by the Kawhi Leonard salary cap scandal and Paul’s high profile departure. As for no members of the Clippers beat being in attendance for Thursday’s game, that’s unfortunately become more common for teams across the league in recent months.