Less than two weeks after announced that he would retire at the end of the season, NBA veteran Chris Paul has been suddenly dropped by his team Los Angeles Clippers. The player posted an Instagram story in the middle of the night, saying that "Just found out I'm being sent home", with a peace emoji.
Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations of the team, confirmed in a statement that "We are parting ways with Chris and he will no longer be with the team. We will work with him on the next step of his career".
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"Chris is a legendary Clipper who has had a historic career. I want to make one thing very clear. No one is blaming Chris for our underperformance. I accept responsibility for the record we have right now. There are a lot of reasons why we've struggled. We're grateful for the impact Chris has made on the franchise", Frank added.
Los Angeles Clippers is currently one of the worst teams this season, with a record of 5 victories and 16 defeats.
Fans cannot believe how the Clippers have dumped Chris Paul
Paul, nicknamed The Point God, considered one of the best in the point guard position, will turn 41 in May, and is the second oldest active player in the basketball league, only behind LeBron James. Despite many individual titles, like being named All-Star 12 times, as well as two Olympic gold medals, he never won the NBA Championship and only reached one Final.
He played for teams like Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets, but his longer stint was with the Clippers, between 2011 and 2017, and he re-joined them in 2025 for a "farewell season"... which is why his firing seems so shocking.
Now, after this sudden episode, fans are calling him "one of the unluckiest players in NBA history": "Comes back to Clipper-land for a farewell tour few years later... the team is unexpectedly dogshit. Re-announces retirement to see if anyone cares.. couple weeks later the Clippers tell him to go the fuck home", said user shpillo_.
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Other users have shared other memes, joking about Paul being woken up in the middle of the night to tell him the team is firing him, amidst a feeling of disbelief and frustration by how the team is treating one of the all-time greats in his final season.
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