More inside story on Paul’s departure: privately giving tactical advice led to warnings, spreading negative vibes behind Lou’s back.

On December 6th Beijing time, the Clippers and Paul have parted ways. What’s the real story behind this? Renowned reporter Chris Haynes explained the reason why the word “leeway” appeared on Paul’s social media during a show.

Before the team’s road trip, Paul posted a screenshot from the Oxford Dictionary defining the word “leeway” on Instagram, hinting at a lack of accountability within the Clippers, which might have triggered this incident. Haynes described it as follows—

This happened during the Clippers’ previous home game against the Dallas Mavericks, late in the fourth quarter. At that time, Kawhi Leonard was limited in minutes. Sources told me Leonard showed clear fatigue when matched up against Klay — after a long rest, it was hard for him to keep up with Klay’s pace.

Near the end of the fourth quarter, the team called a timeout. During the break, Paul approached Leonard and asked, “Bro, are you feeling better? How’s your condition? Can you keep guarding Klay?” Then he turned to other teammates and said, “Maybe we should switch defenders for now and let him guard Klay once he’s warmed up.” Keep in mind, Klay had already hit five or six three-pointers in a row, fully heating up. Eventually, the teammates accepted the suggestion and adjusted their defensive matchups.

The next day, Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy held a meeting with Paul on the team plane. He directly questioned Paul about whether he had unilaterally changed the team’s defensive assignments during the previous game. Paul responded, “I didn’t alter the set plan, I just suggested maybe someone else should guard Klay.”

To my knowledge, Jeff Van Gundy clearly told Paul, “You might have the leeway to adjust defensive strategies on other teams, but here, you don’t have that permission (leeway).” This was just one of several verbal clashes between Van Gundy and Paul during their short time working together on the Clippers. As a result, Paul posted the definition of “leeway” on his social media.

Commentator Perkins also discussed Paul’s dismissal from the Clippers on a show alongside Jefferson and Frye.

He said, “Richard Jefferson and Tyronn Lue have both won championships together, and Frye also won a title with Lue. So they know Lue very well. They understand how much it takes to really upset him. They know what kind of temper Lue has. So when we hear rumors like ‘Oh, Coach Lue stopped talking to him,’ or ‘Lue refused to meet with him,’ or ‘They haven’t spoken for three weeks,’ it makes you wonder — what exactly did Paul do?”

“These issues built up throughout the season. He was doing sneaky things behind Tyronn Lue’s back — whispering to players, stirring up trouble and creating chaos. When the Clippers were already struggling, the last thing they needed was someone who should have been an extension of the coach and a positive voice in the locker room turning into a source of negativity.”

“I’ve been following the public opinion and received many messages saying, ‘Perkins, enough already, everyone knows Paul isn’t a nice guy,’ and these messages came from people who were actually Paul’s teammates.”

From the revelations by Haynes and Perkins, it’s clear that Paul’s departure largely stemmed from conflicts with the coaching staff and some ‘overstepping’ of boundaries. What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.