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Ty Lue Denies Giving Chris Paul the Silent Treatment in Surprise New Remarks

Ty Lue spoke more on Chris Paul on Tuesday. Once again, it was unsatisfactory.
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It has been a week since the Los Angeles Clippers abruptly sent Chris Paul home in the middle of their East Coast trip, but the reverberations of the shocking move remain. The Chris Paul saga remains unresolved as he can't be traded until December 15 and the Clippers don't want to waive him for roster spot and financial concerns. Until the situation is fully resolved and Paul is on a new team, the Clippers decision-makers will have to answer questions about the mess they have created.

On Tuesday, head coach Ty Lue provided new remarks on the situation. Joey Linn of Clippers on SI reported that Lue denied the reports about him and Paul not speaking for weeks, saying "that ain't true. How is he going to play and I'm not talking to him?"

Ty Lue Fails to Shed Any More Light into Abrupt Chris Paul Decision

Lue may be deliberately obtuse in this situation. When ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Lue and Paul were not in speaking terms, he presumably didn't mean that Lue wasn't coaching Paul. There were surely the usual instructions and interactions between any head coach and a player. Whether that counts as being on speaking terms with someone is a different debate.

The Clippers head coach then went on to add that he wasn't a part of the final conversation with Paul and that he has "no problems with Chris", before adding that the reporters need to ask GM Lawrence Frank why the situation was unsalvageable.

The more frustrating aspect of all of this is the fact that Clippers fans still haven't directly heard from Lue or Lawrence about what went down between Paul and the leadership. Most of the things the fans heard about the situation have come from reporters. Considering that CP3 is arguably the greatest player in franchise history and someone who should have his jersey retired at Intuit Dome, Clippers fans deserve to hear more about why Paul was treated this way.

Besides the generic answers about the decision being about fit and coachspeak about Paul being a good leader and a competitor, we still know little about the situation. Knowing Chris Paul and his vocal leadership style, fans can read between the lines and figure out what happened. Not hearing it from the Clippers' top brass, however, has been infuriating. Lue's latest comments continue to fail to shed any more light about the decision as he insists on not being transparent about why the situation was not unable to be reconciled.

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Cem Yolbulan
CEM YOLBULAN

Cem has worked as an Associate Editor for FanSided's Regional Betting Network sites for two years and continues to be a contributor, producing NBA and NFL content. He has also previously written soccer content for Sports Illustrated. He has extensive prior experience covering the NBA for various Fansided sites. Cem has been living in the Washington, DC area for over 15 years since moving to the United States from Istanbul, Turkey. On any given day, he can be found watching soccer or basketball on his couch with his many cats and dogs.

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