After the Los Angeles Clippers fired former head coach Vinny Del Negro once they were eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs, all fingers pointed to Chris Paul as being the reason for the decision. Now Paul is upset at the organization for letting those accusations run for so long.
Paul's anger with the franchise will only have fans wondering how this will affect his decision to re-sign with the Clippers as a free agent this upcoming off season, but sources have already conceded that his anger could lead him to go elsewhere, according to an ESPN report.
"He's angry right now and his anger is directed toward the Clippers organization," the source said. "Chris is a man of principle and if he feels like you've gone against his principles, it will affect how he feels about you. He's very agitated that his name has been put out there as the reason for Vinny's firing. He had nothing to do with it."
Del Negro was fired on May 21 after leading the Clippers to 56 wins, their most successful regular season in franchise history. Sources close to Del Negro say that the unemployed coach believes that Paul is the reason why he was let go as coach.
However, sources close to Paul claim that the All-Star guard refused to get involved in the organizations handling of the decision to retain or release Del Negro.
"Chris made it abundantly clear to the Clippers that he did not want to be involved in any decision about Vinny's future," the source said. "And Blake had nothing to do with it, either."
Now with bad blood between Paul and the Clippers, rumors of a possible locker room change at the Staples Center grows with the possibility that he may sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Paul is eligible to sign a five-year, $108 million extension after July 1. He turned down a three-year, $60 million extension last summer. But that's mostly because the Clippers could only offer him a three-year extension at that point, under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement.
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