NBA fans woke up Tuesday morning feeling like they’d slept straight through an earthquake. In the middle of the night, the Los Angeles Clippers stunned absolutely everyone by parting ways with former Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul. And while he isn’t officially waived yet, the 40-year-old didn’t hold back. He jumped on social media and revealed that the team he’s most connected to had basically sent him home. Not exactly the retirement tour he imagined.
Reactions? All over the map. Confusion, disbelief, flat-out anger. Seriously, how can the Clippers pull the rug out from under another franchise legend? Especially when Paul literally just announced this would be his final NBA season. This was supposed to be his farewell lap, not a please pack your things situation after 16 games.
And it’s not like the Clippers can point fingers at injuries this time. They’ve been a disaster on their own merit. A brutal 6-16 record with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden mostly healthy. Both are putting up numbers. Both are doing their part. Yet somehow, LA went from a penciled-in contender to a team that looks ready to hand the Oklahoma City Thunder a high lottery pick in 2026. That looming reality, mixed with Chris Paul’s constant criticism of both the front office and the team, apparently pushed the Clippers past their breaking point. His retirement tour didn’t just get cut short. It got yanked.
What’s Next Or Chris Paul?
Which brings us to the real question: is this really how Chris Paul’s Hall of Fame career is supposed to end? On a whimper? He probably knew he wasn’t getting a ring when he signed up for this Clippers run, but even then, nobody expected he wouldn’t even finish the season on a contender. Now that LA has slammed the door, fans are wondering: Does someone else open one? More specifically… should the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The timing is interesting. The Thunder are not just good. They are terrifying. The reigning NBA champions have stormed out to a historic 21-1 record with a plus-15.3 point differential. No one else is even close. And if there were ever a team that could hand Paul the storybook ending his résumé is missing, it would be OKC.
And let’s be real: OKC fans still love Chris Paul. His single season with the Thunder wasn’t just productive; it was fun. He rejuvenated his career there and took on the role of mentor to a young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That quirky, unexpected post-Westbrook, post-Paul George Thunder team was one of the most likable squads the franchise has ever had. That version of Paul made people believe again. So… is there a way for the Thunder to bring him back for one last run, wrap his career in a bow, and maybe let him ride off with a championship ring? Some fans seem to love this idea, as one even mentioned via X, “Yo, someone show this to Sam Presti,” who is the Thunder’s general manager.
Could Chris Paul End Up Back On The Oklahoma City Thunder?
While it sounds like the kind of thing you’d see in a Disney movie, the Thunder don’t really operate like a Disney movie studio. Nostalgia isn’t their guiding force. They barely touched their roster over the summer, choosing to run things back exactly as they were. And considering they’re 21-1, it’s hard to argue with that logic. Why mess with perfection?
A Chris Paul reunion is a great emotional moment, but basketball-wise, it just doesn’t fit. That doesn’t erase his impact, though. Not just from his season mentoring SGA, but from those first two years on the OKC Hornets when the franchise temporarily relocated after Hurricane Katrina. Without that test run, who knows if Oklahoma City even lands the Sonics relocation in 2008.
Still, the NBA is a results-first business. And right now, OKC is a win machine. You don’t disrupt that out of sentiment, even for someone as beloved as Chris Paul. Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort still speak glowingly about him, which says everything about how he was viewed in that locker room.
But for now, fans can at least hope Paul gets a real ending to his career. What the Clippers did to him is, frankly, basketball malpractice. They had him for six seasons at his absolute peak. They knew exactly what kind of personality and presence they were inviting back into their locker room. The fact that they tossed him aside this quickly? They deserve every bit of the ridicule coming their way. And hey… maybe the basketball gods handle the justice. Maybe they punish LA and send OKC that top draft pick anyway. If nothing else, that would be one storybook ending everyone could enjoy.
