Austin Rivers Labels Chris Paul As A Brand Party With Clippers Culture

As reported by Fr breakup among los angeles Clippers players and veteran Chris Paul continuea former teammate, Austin Riverswas not surprised to hear that only a few players showed up for a Halloween party. Paul reportedly hosted a party to bring the teammates together, but to no avail.

Rivers, who played with Paul on the Clippers from 2015 until Paul’s departure in 2017. responded to the reportaccording to his podcast, Unready with Austin Rivers.

“It sounds like, you know, they said Brad Beal and just a few other guys showed up. Like, it sounds about right,” Rivers said. “Kawhi doesn’t show up.”

For Rivers, the Clippers should have jumped at the chance to follow Paul’s lead.

“There’s no culture there. He tried to set it up and force it his senior year and they didn’t want it,” Rivers said. “And they didn’t accept that, and they got him out of there. That’s the bottom line. And then it just rubs people the wrong way with his success and history there as a Clipper. It is what it is.”

Rivers believes the fact that the Clippers and Paul haven’t been able to make things work this season speaks to a lack of continuity in Los Angeles.

“It’s Chris, Chris Paul. You know what I mean? Like what? Nobody showed up at Chris’s thing,” Rivers said. “It’s strange to me, but it doesn’t surprise me. There is no culture there.”

The Clippers lost to the Thunder 122-101 on Thursday, dropping to 6-21 and tying the Sacramento Kings for the second-worst record in the Western Conference standings.

How Chris Paul’s leadership efforts failed with the Clippers

Clippers veteran Kawhi Leonard says Chris Paul’s departure surprised himbut it didn’t change the fate of the future Hall of Fame guard as he awaits the next chapter in his NBA career. While Austin Rivers assumed that Leonard most likely did not attend Paul’s Halloween party, neither did most Clippers players.

Paul’s the party was not a hit with his new Clippers teammates, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

“It was something Paul would routinely do on other teams. But the Clippers’ locker room, full of veteran players and coaches, is not particularly active, even after wins, the sources said. So Paul’s attempt to encourage dialogue failed,” Shelburne wrote.

“A few nights later, after the win over New Orleans, Paul and his wife threw a Halloween party for the club’s players and staff at the Intuit Dome. It was meant to be a culture-building exercise, and then Frank and others praised Paul for doing it, despite only a handful of players attending, sources said. Then the Clippers ended nearly two weeks,” she concluded.

Some felt this was the beginning of the end for Paul and the Clippers, as the writing was on the wall with a 5-16 record before the future Hall of Fame guard was sent home.