What Chris Paul Reportedly Said to Kawhi Leonard That Drew Clippers Coach’s Pushback

One Clippers assistant coach was not a fan of Paul’s suggestion to Leonard.

Months after signing him to a one-year contract, the Clippers decided to part ways with Paul (right). / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

In a shocking turn of events, the Clippers sent future Hall of Fame guard Chris Paul home in the middle of the night on Dec. 3, ultimately deciding to part ways with the veteran point guard following a meeting between he and team president Lawrence Frank. Paul, who has earned a considerable amount of leadership latitude during his 21 seasons in the league, evidently drew the ire of Clippers management, coaches, and players when he attempted to hold those around him accountable, according to reporting from Sports Illustrated and ESPN.

One such example of Paul’s actions sparking pushback from the Clippers emerged during Prime Video’s NBA coverage on Friday.

Chris Paul was confronted by Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy after making suggestion to Kawhi Leonard

Back in November, Paul took to Instagram and posted a simple screenshot of the definition of the word “leeway,” confusing fans who were paying attention to his social media activity. What exactly did Paul mean by that?

NBA insider Chris Haynes shared the backstory behind Paul’s cryptic social media post, which he says stemmed from a Nov. 29 loss to the Mavericks.

.@ChrisBHaynes tells the story behind Chris Paul's leeway Instagram story.#NBAonPrime pic.twitter.com/Mg0Sc1HGE0

— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) December 6, 2025

“... It was in the fourth quarter,” Haynes said. “Kawhi Leonard was on a minutes restriction. And sources told me when he was guarding Klay Thompson, he was struggling when he got into the game after sitting down for awhile. He was struggling keeping up with Klay Thompson. And so there was a timeout called late in that fourth quarter.

“And during that timeout, Chris Paul went to Kawhi Leonard and said, ‘Hey man, are you fresh enough—do you feel like you can stick with Klay Thompson?’ And he [Paul] asked his teammates, he said ‘Hey, y’all might want to switch this. Wait until he gets warm until he goes and guards Klay.’ ... And so they ended up switching the matchup.”

But Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy, a longtime NBA coach, apparently didn’t take kindly to Paul's suggestion to Leonard and his Clippers teammates.

“And so the next day, Jeff Van Gundy, assistant coach of the Clippers—he called a meeting with Chris Paul on the plane and he asked Chris Paul if he changed up the defensive assignment yesterday. And Chris said, ‘No, I didn't change up the defensive assignment. I just suggested, ‘Hey, we might want to have somebody else guard Klay right now. Because Kawhi is not warm yet.’

“And so I was told that Jeff Van Gundy told Chris Paul, ‘Listen, you might have had that leeway in other places to be able to change up defensive coverages. But you don't have that leeway here.’”

While Haynes called the exchange between Paul and Van Gundy “minor,” there was reportedly so much tension between Paul and Clippers head coach Ty Lue that the two were not on speaking terms for weeks. It progressed to the point where the Clippers decided Paul wasn't “worth the aggravation.”

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