Clippers President Sends Chris Paul Message After Big Decision

“I’d like to keep some of those things in-house. Chris has a very good leadership style," he said. "He’s led a lot of teams. And he’s led a lot of teams as being one of the best players, if not the best player on the team. It just, the role — some moves you make, you have great intentions. And some work and some don’t. And I own that. And this one just didn’t work at this time.”

This followed a report about Paul's leadership, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

"Chris Paul and his leadership style clashed with the Clippers, sources tell ESPN," he reported. "Paul has been vocal in holding management, coaches and players accountable, which the team felt became disruptive. Specifically: [head coach] Ty Lue was not on speaking terms with Paul for several weeks."

Chris Paul Experiences Heartbreaking End to Clippers Story

Paul originally played for Los Angeles from 2011 to 2017, leading the franchise's iconic "Lob City" squad alongside six-time All-Star Blake Griffin. They earned that nickname because of their constant alley-oop dunks, with Paul often assisting Griffin and big man DeAndre Jordan.

The Clippers acquired Paul from the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) in December 2011, and he led them to the playoffs each season before they traded him to the Houston Rockets in June 2017. They made three Western Conference Semifinals appearances during that period, but never went further.

Paul returned to Los Angeles on July 21 by signing a one-year, $3.6 million deal, per Spotrac. The active NBA career assists and steals leader then announced on Nov. 22 that this will be his final season.

Paul played just 16 games for the Clippers this year, averaging 2.9 points on 32.1 percent shooting (33.3 percent 3-point) with 1.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 14.3 minutes.