Clippers’ Tyronn Lue refutes report that he wasn’t on speaking terms with Chris Paul for several weeks

Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue refuted reports that he and 12-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul weren’t on speaking terms for several weeks leading up to Paul’s dismissal from the team on Dec. 3, and that Lue refused to meet with Paul.

“We were talking,” Lue said Tuesday.

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“I mean, he played. How are he going to play if I’m not talking to him? There was a stretch when we said he wasn’t going to play, he was going to be out of the rotation. It was tough for him because he’s a competitor and what the game means to him and what he brings every single day. But after that, it wasn’t really much.”

Paul is 40 years old and in his 21st season in the NBA. The 2025-26 campaign is expected to be his final go-around in the league. He didn’t play because of a coach’s decision five times last month but was playing as recently as Dec. 1. In 16 games with the Clippers, he was averaging a career-low 2.9 points and 3.3 assists in 14.3 minutes per game.

The Clippers, who are now 6-18, sent him home while they were in Atlanta during a road trip at the beginning of December. Paul broke the news on Instagram. Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank then confirmed in a statement that Paul is no longer with the team, noting that Paul isn’t to blame for the team’s “underperformance” and that he is “a legendary Clipper.”

Tyronn Lue also coached Chris Paul earlier in his career while as an assistant for the “Lob City” Clippers from 2013-14. (Photo by John W. McDonough /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

(John W. McDonough via Getty Images)

Hours later last Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Paul’s leadership style, specifically a willingness to hold management, coaches and players accountable, “clashed” with the Clippers, and that Paul had not spoken to Lue “for several weeks.”

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When Frank met with reporters later that day, he said that he had a three-hour meeting with Paul before his dismissal as well as that Paul “has a very good leadership style” but that some roster moves just don’t work, per Clippers reporter Justin Russo.

“This one just didn’t work at this time,”…

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Author : Andy Backstrom

Publish date : 2025-12-10 00:42:00

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