[Run It Back] Clippers rookie Kobe Sanders on the vibes in the Clippers locker room recently: “Definitely a lot better than how we started. The main thing is our leadership … Block out the drama. Block out the outside noise.”
The outside noise being Chris Paul
Seriously what was Chris Paul doing to that team?
I was 100% convinced he was just the scapegoat. But I’m not so certain now…
People were not being honest about Chris and his reputation for being a bad teammate when things aren’t going right. We saw it with Blake and Jordan and with Harden and the Rockets. I personally think that he was upset that he announced his retirement, but wasn’t getting any minutes anymore. I feel like he wanted a Kobe/Dirk retirement, but he was getting a Paul Peirce one instead.
The minutes could have been had if he wasn’t completely washed. LAC is currently missing Bogi, Beal (for the season), and DJJ. That means we’re missing 2 primary shot creators (who are also capable passers) + DJJ out means Dunn has to start for defense.
So if Cp3 wanted more minutes, he had to play better. The dude was shooting 32⁄30 shooting splits, getting eaten alive on defense, and labored to get our team into sets because he couldn’t compete against his defender. Benching Cp3 gave meaningful opportunities to both Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller, both of whom have been primary reasons we’ve won a handful of close games.
When you look at a couple of our early season losses where the game got away from us despite our stars playing well (Heat, Hawks, 76ers, Grizzlies), swapping out those 14-15 minutes CP3 could have led to different outcomes. On the other hand, Kobe Sanders was instrumental in our W against GSW, and Miller played important minutes for us in our slim wins against the Pistons, Raptors, and Wizards.
I agree with you, and I think that the Clippers ultimately did the right thing. When it became apparent that Chris Paul could no longer play at an effective enough level to get playing time, he should have passed the torch gracefully and became a player coach from the bench. He instead chose to undermine the coaches and created a toxic environment. The Clippers took a pr hit in the short term, but ultimately salvaged their season while also prioritizing the development of their younger players.
Tbh, it’s still a bad look for LAC because there was likely a more graceful way to do this. There was probably a terrible PR hit regardless, but basically sending someone home mid road trip and denying him a conversation to fix things is just poor form.
it must have been that bad inside the locker room to have to take such drastic measures. the FO isn’t stupid, they know what kind of a PR hit they took sending CP3 home
he also can’t get to his favorite spots that he hunted during his prime (elbow corners) cause he old. couldn’t get past even the most basic of POA defenders and was forced to chuck 3s at the last second, which was never his strong suit
Yep. When I mentioned that he labored to get our team into sets, he literally would struggle to get by any mediocre defender pressing up on him.
Paul pierce had a good retirement tho, if Boston didn’t trade him, he would have aged out gracefully
He actually finished his career being an aging afterthought on the Clippers bench. Draymond famously roasted him for not being more realistic about his place within the pantheon of the sports greats.
Draymonds the wrong messenger for that.
Draymond said that he knows that he also isn’t in a position to receive a retirement tour so I don’t see a problem with it.
Hardest I’ve ever cheered for an opposing player making a shot was when Pierce made a “meaningless” 3 at the end of his last game in Boston.
You could hear how the whole arena erupted on TV
Oh, he thought he was Kobe?
Paul Pierce was chill af his final year
same
Tbf they needed kawhi to play like his prime self to look this solid. Imo C Paul was still q scapegoat until I see that hes referenced.
This isn’t the first time the clippers have done this… Come out the gate like crap, then go on a run to convince people they’re legit… then choke in the playoffs in a close series. It happened before cp3, it might happen again. As a long time clippers fan I really don’t think cp3 was the issue
Its entirely possible that he just had different vibes than the rest of the team. Someone could come in and be upset by the lack of structure for example, while another person views it as freedom thats beneficial to opening up their game.
He wanted players to come into the season in shape and giving a shit.
“Fuck that noise”
- the whole Clippers organization
All my homies hate noise
Bro was on the team. Doesn’t that make him inside noise?
The call is coming from inside the house
The noise* is coming from inside the house
Are we really all just gonna pretend that the beginning of the season’s coverage wasn’t dominated by stories of the Clippers shady dealings and Kawhi planting trees? That had to be distracting right? Or have we moved back to the “billionaire did nothing wrong” regular programming?
I don’t see why players would care about that?
Edit: other than kawhi, maybe
The balmer tree stocks was the noise first.
They still doing him dirty by not cutting or trading him though
The outside noise was coming from inside the building.
I get downvoted every time from the clowns in this sub but I’ve been saying since he was sent home that after the attention and microscope was off our team we would go on a run. The revisionist history on CP3 from this sub is freakin’ crazy.
Dude was not signed to be a rotational player. The front office did him a favor so he could retire here and be closer to his family who lives in LA and he was meant to be an extension of the coaching staff. Instead he was undermining Ty Lue and JVG and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if James and Kawhi hated him and his style of leadership especially when you consider how much more laidback those two are.
At the end of the day CP3 was creating a toxic environment and both players and coaches were walking on eggshells. No one wants to work like that and give their full effort whether you’re flipping burgers or making millions of dollars
kawhi loves cp lol. there have been zero reports contradicting that.
ball handler who takes the bad cop role. none of this weakass pg shit.
pls put the 3 in there next time thx
There have been zero reports contradicting what he said.
I’ve never heard Kawhi say he was against CP is all I’m saying.
his nickname is cp3 not cp, “kawhi loves cp” is not a the best wording
Dont check his hard drive.
What’s wrong with cheese pizza?
You’re actually stupid if you think Kawhi would publicly say he dislikes CP3 and on top of that it’s possible to like someone as a person and hate them as a colleague. Ty Lue and CP3 were great friends and they didn’t talk to each other for weeks because of these issues.
And clearly guys on the team weren’t messing with him because he threw a party and only 3 guys showed up. Not even James Harden who is notorious for partying and having a good time could be bothered with it and he had a previous relationship with CP3
this sub just runs with whatever the popular narrative online is to substitute knowledge and experience. memory of a goldfish and unmatched confidence, zero critical thinking.
Or the team is older and working through injuries, if distractions were such a big deal then why isn’t the aspiration stuff tanking them? Maybe they started listening to CP3 after he left and are just too proud to admit it
Wtf was CP3 doing man? Like I still think it’s disrespectful how the Clips just sent him home, but I’m really starting to wonder what was CP3 saying to these dudes. Was he starting a cult or something?
It’s probably abundantly clear to anyone who played sports that nobody wants to hear that worst player on the team (regardless of status) how to play the “right way,” including challenging two of the most respected coaches in the game.
The guy who couldn’t guard a soul is telling Kawhi what he should do instead. He was trying to overrule the defensive coach who literally shaped the team’s identity around defense a year ago. All of this likely in the view of young guys who simply want a chance to play and earn real contracts.
Don’t get me wrong, LAC needed to act more professionally and they rightfully should be criticized for handling things poorly. But all the fans out here trying to act like “CP3 is just holding people ACCOUNTABLE which LAC totally lacks” were doofuses.
“When Van Gundy reportedly accused Paul of changing the assignment, Paul reportedly countered by saying it was only a suggestion before standing up, walking down the aisle of the plane and asking Leonard and Kris Dunn to recount what happened. Leonard and Dunn reportedly backed Paul by confirming that he only suggested the change to the assignment, but the Clippers reportedly “decided they’d finally had enough” of Paul at that point.”
Your post doesn’t accurately reflect what happened. Kawhi didn’t have a problem with CP3.
Also, the whole “Nobody wants to hear from the worst player” thing doesn’t apply when you’re a legend and have the IQ of someone like CP3.
Huge difference between that and an actual bum trying to coach people.
I’m not sure how people can read stories like this about CP3 and not understand how he could get really annoying for a veteran team. I’ve had colleagues like this, and even if they are technically right, they absolutely wear on morale and can undermine others.
It seems like Chris Paul has been a valuable veteran leader for young teams and gets on the nerves of every veteran team he plays with. That seems to track with his personality so it’s not too surprising.
Your quote leaves out a ton of the other context leading up to this situation. In the entire article, they mentioned:
And then after ALL of this, that’s when CP3 openly questioned how they were using Leonard defensively, including CP3 changing coverage without JVG’s permission. At that point, that’s when CP3 went to get backup from Dunn and Leonard to advocate that it was only a “suggestion.”
When you look at the entirety of the situation as opposed to cherry picking the final conflict, it paints out a bit more of a comprehensive story. CP3 was very clearly getting into arguments with the coaching staff, to the point where the L-Frank gave him a “final” warning (suggesting that he was given other warnings about his behavior). Despite this final warning, CP3 still pushed the boundary. So JVG calls him out, and CP3’s response is saying: “I didn’t change the gameplan, I merely suggested a change! And look, let’s go get Kawhi and Dunn involved!”
With the greater context, I think you could understand why the boss, L-Frank, cut this shit out. This is an undeniably divisive player who was warned to cut this shit out, and then still went back for more. And then when the coach called him on this, he pulled some bullshit saying: “I didn’t change it, I suggested a change!” while involving other players. The absolute last thing a GM wants is for a disgruntled player to start involving other players, who very likely just want to stay out of it and figure out how to win games.
To be clear, I never said Kawhi specifically had a problem with CP3. In fact, I firmly believe none of the players really knew things were this bad. But anybody who has played sports at a high level knows that you don’t want this shit in the locker room, and L-Frank made the call to just cut this down before it got bad.
Again, this wasn’t CP3 holding people accountable. It was a player openly challenging their coaches time and time again, then the FO cut this shit out when he started bringing other players into the mix. And guess what? The coaches were right, because the team DID figure it out and are playing far better based on the game plan they shape every night.
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying.
My original reply was more in response to your comment of CP3 not being able to guard + telling Kawhi what to do.
We still might be on different pages, because my point still stands that nobody wants to hear from the worst player on the team who is starting to cause problems.
I don’t think players actively disliked Paul (though they clearly didn’t love him considering none of them showed up to his events), but nobody wants locker room drama, especially during a bad times.
LAC was sucking, and in the background you had CP3 getting into it with the coaches. It’s not surprising that the line that was crossed was CP3 disregarding his “final warning,” then saying: “Woah woah, technically I didn’t do that! Look let me bring Kawhi and Dunn into this!”
This didn’t all happen in isolation, and the reality is that players know what’s going on in the locker room. Cp3 may not have pissed everyone off, but L-Frank saw where this was headed and cut this shit out before it got to some weird point.
If you’ve never had to deal with people who insist on bringing the backup when they think they’re right to make sure everyone knows they’re right, they are just about the most annoying people. They’re right, yes, but sometimes in interpersonal relationships that’s not enough to make everyone happy.
For a guy meant to be a vet glue guy, Paul just wasn’t worth the friction no matter how good he once was.
I disagree with your last point. It’s easy for us to separate 2026 CP3 from his career. Obviously he’s a first ballot hall of famer, on the shortlist of best players without an MVP, all that.
But we’re not on the court. It’s different when the worst guy on the court is telling you what you’re doing wrong. It’s psychologically impossible for a lot of people to separate those things in the moment. Also, let’s not pretend CP3 was conducting himself like a coach, or a veteran player. You and I both know he was talking as if he was 2013 CP3.
When that worst player is one of the highest IQ players of all time, I’m listening and showing respect. Period.
& I agree that it can be hard to hear, especially when you picture 2013 CP3 as you mentioned. But if you’ve made it to the league, then you’ve already had to deal with that style of leadership/coaching anyway.
I think his dismissal had way more to do with the coaches than players.
If I’m a young guy or even non-star veteran, I absolutely care to hear what CP3 has to say, I don’t really care if he’s washed due to age, and if he communicates it in a harsh way. I don’t think Harden or Kawhi had any issue with him.
I agree it was more of a coaching and ownership management thing - but I stand by what I said.
If you’re going to take on the washed vet role, you have to conduct yourself like a veteran- not a superstar. You work with the coaches to get the young guys on board. You don’t start fights with coaches and insult younger players at the same time. That behaviour ONLY works if you are a superstar- not a former superstar. You need to be delivering results to get that leeway.
Him disagreeing with the coaches and however that went down is one thing.
But is there anything that’s been published that says he was insulting younger guys?
In general, yes I agree being soft spoken and respectful is always more effective. However, as a player myself, I just don’t give a damn, IF the person who’s giving advice is someone like CP3, or Bron etc. I’m looking past tone and way of putting things if you’re a legend like that.
It’s tough. Because I agree if the person is Bron. But CP3 isn’t quite there. He’s like half a step removed from being given that benefit - at least to me (and this is from someone who thinks he’s a top 5 PG ever).
For real it’s clear a lot of folks here have never played team sports, one player with a shitty attitude can completely fuck with the chemistry and overall vibes of the team on a day to day basis.
Regardless of his physical abilities, CP3 has an elite mind for basketball and should be listened to in some capacity. That doesn’t make much sense to me
Broadly speaking, sure. But context matters a lot.
This is a locker room of an entire team (which mostly consists of vets) that is going out there trying to win. Harden and Kawhi were basically giving herculean efforts to win games, only for the rest of the team to squander the lead, and the two of them would be out of gas to close out the game. I’m sure everyone was frustrated, including the coaches.
Cp3 was frequently the worst guy on the floor and it’s clear from his history that he’s a bit of an asshole. Do you really think he approached this situation with inspirational leadership? Because I sure as hell doubt that. When a team is kicking themselves for their struggles, it’s likely not going to benefit anyone for the dude sucking ass to undermine coaches and tell others what to do.
A huge part of leadership is understanding how to rally the troops and bring back morale. It’s pretty abundantly clear based on history and the outcome of this situation that Cp3 was not offering the right voice, and that’s why they kicked him out.
This situation makes sense to anyone who has had a poor leader with 0 EQ that gives pep talks that only make a struggling team feel worse. Being the smartest person in the room doesn’t somehow fix an inability to know which are the right points to hit.
I agree the fit didn’t work, but the premise of “Chris Paul is not playing well therefore we shouldn’t listen to him” is what I can’t really support.
I think his assholery definitely magnified and made the losing worse, but his annoyingness probably didn’t start until he was annoyed with the effort out there first
You’re kind of missing my point.
The premise isn’t “We shouldn’t listen to him ever because he sucks.” It’s “There’s a time and place to bring and apply your critical, asshole-y leadership style.” My emphasis is that delivery and approach often times matters just as much, if not more, than content.
When LAC was losing all these games, Kawhi and Harden kept saying: “We’re trying our best to figure it out. We know we’re a better team than this, and we’re all frustrated just looking for wins.” And guess what? They stayed on the course and have been cooking as they have believed in the same system that Cp3 was complaining about.
My emphasis is that delivery and approach often times matters just as much, if not more, than content.
Like it or not, perception matters more than intent in a lot of situations. An asshole who is right is still an asshole and people don’t really like being around that guy.
Exactly. The reality is that the team was down in the dumps trying to figure out how to get wins. That’s literally what the team leaders in Kawhi and Harden would say after every loss. I’m pretty sure the absolute last thing they want is getting into some weird locker room politics of a vet constantly getting into shit with the coaches they respect.
Like when work sucks, let’s just work through it as opposed to having one of the coworkers create even more drama with the bosses that we actually respect. L-Frank saw what was happening and honestly took the hit for the team by owning the decision as his and his alone.
It’s the same 51+ people upvoting you that initially sided with CP and bashed the org.
Shows you we all don’t know shit.
Oh for sure, people flip flop here.
I usually take the side of: “We don’t know shit, but the truth is usually in the middle.” Cp3 wasn’t the reason that sole reason we sucked and him being sent home isn’t the only thing that turned our season around. At the same time, he was horrendous for us and gave us bad vibes, and we’ve literally won games because guys who took his minutes (Miller and Kobe) are actually doing things we need.
You don’t treat a franchise star like LAC did, but you also don’t play like total shit and then tell your best player + defensive coach what they should be doing better. It’s just funny because there are 1000000 reasons to clown and hate on LAC, and I’m not sure this one even cracks like top 10
Gilbert Arenas was right
You had me until “two of the most respected coaches in the game”
You talking about Ty fuckin Lue here??????????
IIRC, a lot of players seems to like Ty Lue.
People in the league have mountains of respect for Ty Lue, he always does extremely well in the coaching surveys. It’s basically just internet trolls like yourself that don’t respect him.
Players love him. And their opinions are the only thing that matters.
Literally last year 28% of polled NBA GMs voted Lue as the best head coach in the league when it comes to making in-game adjustments, the most votes of any coach.
We are not talking about reddit people here kid.
Yes NBA players respect Ty Lue. He isn’t one of the coaches reddit respects for… reasons, but that’s neither here nor there. Lue is greatly respected around the league.
Damn I didn’t know that, actually kinda shocked
He was trying to get everyone to sign up for State Farm
Whatever he said/did, the clippers are a vet team and they’re fragile as fuck if it legitimately contributed to that bad of a start.
obviously he wasn’t wanted but too many people are casting blame on him for the terrible start when a team with that large of a vet presence should be able to overcome not liking a guy
Vet presence was still doing their thing in bad start. It was younger guys who was playing worse. Including Zubac. Old guy who cant help in any way in court chirping all day on your ear probably doesnt boyher multiple time allstars, but im pretty sure it would bother young players.
the start of the season was zu and harden vs the world. also zu has been in the league 9 years. he’s part of the vets
kawhi didn’t really come online until a bit after paul was gone
This. The turnaround is mostly Kawhi getting healthy.
Cp was really that much of headache , sheesh
I mean he’s the most decorated Clippers player in history. The front office knew what kind of backlash they would face if they removed him from team activities and yet they still did it. It means he was that much of a headache where they just said “fuck it, kick him out”.
With that heavy ass PR blitz from CP’s little mouthpiece when he got cut, just knew he was probably the real issue lol
Beyond the sympathies of a future hofer being forced out in his final year, I was surprised how much support and benefit of the doubt CP was getting. I guess a lot of that was easy to chalk up cuz LolClippers, but still…
It’s just super easy to frame the story however you want when you have Shams/Haynes/whoever speaking on your behalf in the media on a 24⁄7 news cycle. Clippers played it smart and just let it pass, they are clearly better off without him.
Funniest part was OKC and Spurs fans swearing up and down how great of a leader and mentor he was in the one year he was with them and how they just couldn’t understand how anyone would see him as a pain in the ass, but if you asked them if they wanted him back, they would say no.
??? most okc fans want cp3 back (obv don’t want to trade picks for him or anything but still)
Ummm even Warrior fans would take back Chris Paul if we had an unused slot on the minimum.
Like I fucking hated his was before he came to Warriors but he was a good vet who kept guys accountable.
Also the team did a 180 that year where the bench was a huge positive. Cruel irony that the starters outside of Steph just sucked ass
Buddy they said no because their roster is full. If they have a spot for him both fanbases already expressed they would love to have him back, even if only on a limited coaching role. That’s how much impact he’s had on their youngins.
Like damn do you really despise one of yall own franchises’ best that much?
Yeah, this is the type of false narrative that people were spouting back then.
How was it false 😭
I’ve seen both subs expressed this exact sentiment and most of their fans were on board too. For one I’m a Spurs fan so I could attest to our side at least.
I mean I’m happy yall are turning the season around, but I guess CP doesn’t mesh well with the older group compared to the younger ones down in North/South West.
Tip. If you start a comment with “buddy” or “pal” or “bro”, you give away that you took the comment personally and that you’re upset.
The only one that looks upset bitch is you buddy.
Now you’re just trying to rage bait me and I’m not bout to fall for it 😂
Like I said happy for you guys, the better LA team this decade. See you guys in March o7
You were already mad. I didn’t need to bait you.
Spurs fans absolutely wanted him back, OKC fans want him back. Suns fans would love him back. Wtf are you talking about. Why do Clippers fans hate their franchise GOAT so much?
They regard him as the scapeGOAT, not the org’s GOAT.
They want it to be all about him because it means less attention to the fact that their FO is one of the worst run FO’s in the sports history. Easier to continue being a fan if it’s just CP3’s fault instead of anything beyond that.
It also feeds into the modern tendency to blame those that hold others accountable so that the established narrative is that the person holding others accountable is a disruptive force, rather than a potentially corrective one.
Nope, CP3 was still right. Clippers having a victory lap at .500
The clippers have 2 guys name Kobe in their team?
and a Jordan!
All three Kobes in the league play in LA.
The NFL has a Kobe Durant and I just feel he missed his calling
The NFL also has Coby Bryant and Cobee Bryant.
I still don’t understand why people thought cp3 was so valuable to this old ass veteran clippers team. The clippers have an ex mvp, two champions unless im forgetting someone. Cp3 is washed up and it probably doesn’t help when someone who’s washed up is in your ear acting like you’re not a vet. He was valuable to the spurs because they’re all young.
He had said he wanted to sign in LA to be close to his family. Clips signed him basically as a favor to him and for the sake of PR. But they told him before he signed that his role was going to be very limited and that he needed to take a back seat. He reportedly understood.
Then Ty Lue made the mistake of giving him a much bigger role than anticipated during training camp. That seems to have emboldened Chris Paul to assume a bigger role in the lockerroom than anyone had anticipated. It snowballed from there.
Ty Lue did the same shit with Beal too. I hate his players hierarchy bullshit. He learned that from doc
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It’s kind of funny how a lot of people seem to forget that Ty is a Doc protégé.
ME & PEPPERIDGE FARM BOTH REMEMBER
He was supposed to be our Bronny prop victory cigar for the season and Ty Lue tried to have him be an integral part of the rotation
because second unit ball handling has been a serious weakness for the team the last couple years
At least people can say this now without pushback, right after he was kicked off the team everyone was glazing CP3 like he was the only one who knew how to win and all timers like Kawhi and Harden were bums who were never going to win anything without the guidance of 0x champ CP3
I was saying this before but everyone would just downvote the shit outta of me, people love cp3 and act like he’s a winner or the only one with leadership skills
CP being a Zazza wasn’t on my bingo list.
Not Zazza lmfao
Paul just was ruining the vibes.
Have you followed his career ? This late career rebrand has a lot of people fooled .
I’m just horsing around.
How did zazza make it into this sub lmao
Man its gotta feel shitty seeing the team starting to work well right after they send you home. Im sure its not because Paul is gone, but it still has to suck lol
The team was losing when CP3 left. Kawhi getting healthy is the biggest factor in their turnaround.
And thats when the healing process started
Yeah it’s funny how many people are slotting this up to CP3, instead of them adding a guy that’s averaging 28.5⁄3.5⁄6.3 with over 2 steals on 50/40/90 splits
Chris Paul fanboys are the fragilest group of people in human history.
Your boy has never won anything and got kicked out of the cool group. Deal with it.
One of the only point guards that has dirty compilations up on YouTube but he always has this nice guy persona and everyone falls for it.
I’ll never forget in the lead up to the 2021 Finals most neutrals seemed to be rooting for the Suns, primarily so an all-time great PG like Chris Paul could finally get his ring. Then everyone actually watched him play a whole series and remembered what he’s like, by the end of it neutrals seemed to favour the Bucks a whole lot more. Was pretty funny to watch opinion swing on him again in real time.
I know he helped us turn a corner and become a somewhat legitimate team, but I can’t stand the dude.
Some people are just very different on and off the court.
The Clippers are part of the cool group?
They’re playing for vibes.
As the local Chapter President of the Chris Paul Player Hater’s Club I love this
Remember when everyone here was saying Ty Lue is a terrible coach
I think his biggest flaw is promising big roles for players who don’t always deserve them. Everyone got tired of red carpet treatment for guys like Marcus Morris. He was stressed out because Bradley “our 3rd best player” Beal got injured and he had to change all his schemes. It seems like a very old-school hierarchy thing, every guy needs to “know their role”. Guys like CP3 want to give the role players/bench a real voice and I think that clashes with Ty Lue. Otherwise he’s a pretty good coach during the actual games.
he makes zero reference to cp. yall are dumb
Funny how much this subs tune towards CP3 has changed since this team started winning.
Went from “WHAT A CLOWN ORGANIZATION” to “Great move Balmer” overnight lol yall flip more than a pancake
All it takes is for them to go on another losing streak, and suddenly it’s back to “LOLCLIPPERS”. And of course the rookie is gonna say that everything’s fine. He’d be stupid to say otherwise.
Well, yeah, winning does that. It’s the reason people play the games.
but but but he’s a scapegoat that can do no wrong!
is there a chance he is referring to the kawhi and aspiration drama when he says outside noise ?
Perhaps, but I think that’s largely overblown on Reddit.
More distracting would probably be their coach being named by the White House and FBI as a suspect in an illegal gambling ring. That made national news outside of sports nerds.
Yes, that is the biggest drama and what people were clowning the clippers for.
I don’t get why people are trying to scapegaot chris paul now lmao.
The famous Kawhi leadership….
Bruh kawhi got healthy that’s why they’re winning hate these posts
Don’t think this comment had nearly as much to do with CP3 as is being implied here and I don’t actually think CP3 was ‘the’ problem. They had like 20 different issues and most of them still remain in some form. But he clearly was not additive player on the court or in the locker room. Even if he didn’t play much the minutes he did play he was inarguably one of the worst players in the league. So from that perspective sending him home and never playing him at baseline level made them better
Basically no CP3
CP3: Guys don’t listen to him, listen to me. CP3: Don’t follow that game plan, listen to me. CP3: Don’t listen to the coaches, come to my players only meetings.
I’ve pointed out how his behavior is dividing the team and undermining the leadership and coaches but most folks on here at the time sided with CP3 because they were losing. Whatever was the issue (if there was), CP3 made it worse. “Someone has to say something and hold the team accountable!” “CP3 is right!” How narrative has changed now. “Oh maybe it was CP3.” Nobody came to the defense of CP3 on the team. Ya think?
CP3!!!!
CP3’s nice guy image is one of NBA history’s greatest con jobs.
Since cp3 left
Crazy what no Beal will do
I really like CP3 as a player but it really seems like he was doing something to this team.
Sure, hes an extremely smart player but I don’t think that gives him the right to go against the coaches. You need a unified vision and plan, which is the coaching staffs job. If you go in and tell guys things that contradict the coach, you create a rift where players have to choose allegiances. Then you get into the game and 3 of the guys are following plan A to keep coach happy but 2 of the guys are following plan B because their kids go to school with CP3s and you don’t want to make it awkward when y’all go golfing.
The other part too is not all guys respond well to the kind of “accountability” that Chris Paul was likely pushing. MJ and Kobe made a lot of fans think being an asshole was needed to be a “leader” but theres plenty of NBA greats who have more encouraging or hands off leadership styles. You could call them weak and say you want to get rid of all of them for guys that match that leadership style, but I think ultimately its the leaders job to know what their working with and change themselves appropriately to meet people where they’re at.
Basically cp3 is gone so vibes are infinitely better lol… LET THEM COOK!
Lowry better all time dont @me
Best Kobe to ever play in LA😎