At least one ex-Clipper relished the Golden State Warriors ending the LA Clippers’ season in the play-in tournament Wednesday night.
After the Clippers’ 126-121 loss to the Warriors, Chris Paul reacted to LA’s season-ending defeat in petty fashion on his Instagram story. He shared a viral meme of someone who posted they attended their “biggest haters” funeral to make sure they were dead.
In this case, Paul was seemingly referring to the Clippers.
He’s not the first NBA star to use the meme — Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid posted the same photo when the team traded Ben Simmons in February 2022.
The future Hall of Famer began the season with the Clippers, where he played for six seasons. He cited a desire to play his 21st NBA season near his family and, after signing him, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank called Paul “one of the most impactful players ever to wear a Clippers uniform.”
However, the partnership was short-lived. In stunning fashion, the Clippers announced in the early hours of Dec. 3 that Paul was no longer with the team. ESPN’s Shams Charania then reported that Paul and head coach Ty Lue were not on speaking terms.
Paul said he was “at peace with everything” on Dec. 9 and didn’t suit up for another team this season.
LA eventually traded the 12-time NBA All-Star to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline. Days later, Paul announced his retirement.
In Wednesday’s loss, LA had a 13-point lead during the final quarter, but Golden State stormed back to eventually go up for good with 50.4 seconds remaining — leaving Warriors fans and presumably Paul cheering.
