Post#289 » by Godymas » Thu Dec 4, 2025 2:01 pm
Imo, the other players and staff just said "he's not playing good enough to have this kind of attitude"
like he's mega washed this season, barely plays and his #s are in the dumpster for a guy of his caliber of experience
in the past they probably let him have his way in the meetings and locker room cause he was one of the best players in the room, if not the best player. So he was allowed to be abrasive and call people and get away with a lot of his classic attitude issues because he was Chris Paul, he was the best PG in the NBA, he was going to be a HoFer.
Now he's waaaay washed, the dudes in the locker room are all veterans and some of them have done more than Chris Paul has in his career, and the Clippers probably signed him as a "hero's goodbye"
they probably didn't think he'd be overly vocal, that he might recognize that he's not the guy anymore, it's not his team, he's just there as formal "thank you, you meant so much to the Clippers, we're trying to win this year, come retire with us"
Except he decided that the season isn't playing out, he's really desperate to get that ring, was hoping to have shot at it with the Clippers, his franchise, and things have been sour.
So basically he's become the equivalent of "old man yelling at cloud" for this locker room, like sure he's good and talented, but it sounds like he tried to be the coach in the room, he may have even have tried to "big brother" Ty Lue, who wasn't as notable of a player as Chris Paul, and Ty Lue obviously didn't like that because he's had a lot of success as a coach, and he doesn't want some player becoming the coach that everyone's gonna listen to, and it also sounds like Ty Lue might not be experienced with this level of veteran in his locker room. In the past Chris Paul played with much older coaches. Mike D'Antoni, Doc Rivers, Byron Scott, and obviously they could use their years to take over Chris Paul and keep him in check. Ty Lue is 48, he's right there with Chris Paul as a peer, they played each other a few times in their careers, this is a completely different situation. It's actually why I 100% believe that Chris Paul will not end up on the Lakers. JJ 100% does not want Chris Paul in his locker room messing with whatever he's done to get Luka and Reaves to be the leaders for the team, and credit to JJ for keeping LeBron in check too, having him step down and slow down successfully. I don't think JJ will have that happen with Chris Paul, if he ends up a Laker. The former teammate experience will takeover Chris Paul and he's not going to adapt his mindset at 40.
We see this happen often with aging stars, Carmelo was the classic example. Guys who still think they're the dude, when they need to quiet down. For Melo it took him playing with a prime superstar talent like Damian Lillard who has exceptional people skills too, to really calm things down and get him to stay in line.
For Chris Paul, he's coming from the Spurs, one of the youngest teams in the NBA, and I promise you every single young guy in that locker room was probably giving him the "you are a god" treatment and worshipping the ground he walked on, listening to everything he said eagerly, all of that.
I actually think that the right thing for Chris Paul is to end up on a team with a strong player leader in the locker room that can keep him in check. So, obviously, Denver sticks out, but I think Minnesota is a quiet team because Anthony Edwards gets the veterans like Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, etc. to respect him heavily out there, and Chris Paul could actually help them a lot because they need a point guard to fill minutes on their team because it's either Mike Conley or Rob DIllingham, and Rob needs a lot of mentoring too. Also I think Chris Finch is an underrated leader, he's 56, he seems to carry himself with a lot of respect out there and the results show, so I like the idea of Chris Paul playing in Minnesota.
It's hard to find other teams where CP3 going wouldn't be an issue, there needs to be a serious contention with a in-prime superstar, not dudes trying to light a fire from the past like what's going on in LA where it's getting a little desperate considering the status of their picks.
Oh and OKC, I think would be a massive mistake too. Gordon Hayward hated being there, even though the team was contending. I think that there's too much youthful strength, and Paul will just be completely isolated from the locker room. It would like Chris Paul joining Memphis in 2022. It wouldn't make any sense at all.
