The career of former Golden State Warriors guard is all but over after the L.A. Clippers made the shock decision to part ways with the future Hall of Famer just 21 games into his final season.
Paul had already announced that this year would be a retirement tour after two decades in the league, yet he may not even get the opportunity to see that out after the Clippers decision to pull the plug after only signing the 40-year-old in the offseason.
Former Warrior Chris Paul has been left without a team in shock development
Paul’s production had fallen off a cliff in recent weeks, having actually started in all 82 games with the San Antonio Spurs last season. He’d averaged just 2.9 points and 3.3 assists in 14.3 minutes across 16 games so far this season, with head coach Ty Lue removing him from the rotation across some games amid a disastrous 5-16 start to the campaign.
Yet despite the fall from grace that’s been evident, there was no prior sense that Paul’s retirement tour would be abruptly cut short. In a statement overnight, Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank thanked Paul for his services to the franchise and reiterated that he was in no way to blame for the team’s underwhelming play to start the season.
Clippers statement on releasing Chris Paul: pic.twitter.com/BhtZmupjuF
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) December 3, 2025
Paul will now become a free agent where he’ll be free to join his next team, but it’s difficult to exactly pinpoint a franchise who might be willing to take a punt on him given his form through the first 21 games.
The 12x All-Star played one year with Golden State in the 2023-24 season, having been acquired by the franchise in a shock trade that sent Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards on the day of the 2023 NBA Draft.
Paul averaged 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 58 games with the Warriors, shooting 44.1% from the floor and 37.1% from 3-point range as the franchise failed to reach the playoffs after a play-in tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Paul played for seven different Western Conference teams throughout his legendary career, including with the Phoenix Suns whom he played a significant role for in leading them to the 2021 NBA Finals.
He’s perhaps best known for his previous six-year stint with the Clippers where has an All-NBA player on five occasions, making the franchise’s decision to part ways with Paul all the more surprising given their history together.
