Clippers head coach Ty Lueis downplaying speculation a huge beef with Chris Paul led to the future Hall of Famer's exit... telling reporters he was in communication with the NBA star prior to the shocking move.
The longtime coach was bombarded with CP3 questions at practice on Tuesday ... with reporters trying to figure out more information about the decision.
One report suggested Lue and Paul were not on speaking terms before the team kicked the hooper to the curb ... but he said that's not the case.
The L.A. Clippers played their first game after Chris Paul's surprise departure on Wednesday ... but the future Hall of Famer was on the home crowd's minds -- with Atlanta Hawks fans hurling chants asking where the heck CP3 was during the game!!
A group of Hawks backers broke out in the jeers while Ivica Zubac was at the free-throw line for L.A. ... with "Where's Chris Paul?" clearly ringing through the arena.
Luckily for Zubac, it didn't have much effect ... as he made both shots from the line. The biggest news of the day also didn't hurt the Clippers' play ... as they went on to get the 115-92 win against Atlanta.
CP3 shared a screenshot of the Lob City hangout on Wednesday ... hours after the NBA world was rocked by the news the Clips abruptly sent him packing for good.
No word on what they talked about ... but we're guessing DJ and BG had to ask Paul for his side of the whole debacle.
Gilbert Arenas says the Clippers might as well pack their bags and get the hell outta of Los Angeles ... going OFF on the organization for disrespecting Chris Paul by sending him home during his retirement season.
The Clippers parted ways with the 12-time NBA All-Star guard in the middle of the night ... and Arenas went to TikTok to go on a passionate rant on the matter on Wednesday.
"Ooooooh, I done had it with the Clippers now," Arenas said. "Y'all gon' send thebest Clipper y'allever had home and not let him finish his last year?!"
Future Hall of Famer Chris Paul isn't getting a chance to ride off into the sunset with the L.A. Clippers -- the team just abruptly cut ties with the franchise great in the middle of a road trip.
CP3 announced the shocking news himself in the middle of the night ... going to Instagram to say he "Just Found Out I'm Being Sent Home" with a peace sign emoji from Atlanta, where the team is slated to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.
Later on, Clippers exec Lawrence Frank confirmed to ESPN the team is moving forward without Paul ... adding it will "work with him on the next step of his career."
Clippers and Nuggets players weren't the only ones showing off their moves on Wednesday -- a fan put his own on display after rushing the court during the game ... but as always, he ultimately had a date with security.
TMZ Sports obtained footage of the incident that went down during the matchup at the Inuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
We're told the guy came outta nowhere as he ran onto the hardwood ... and he somehow ended up right beside Nuggets guard Bruce Brown.
Ask and you shall receive -- DeAndre Jordan expressed his hopes of joining an NBA team to TMZ Sports on Thursday ... and one day later, he's a New Orleans Pelican.
We caught up with the 6'11" center at LAX roughly 24 hours before it was announced the NBA camp would be making his way to the Big Easy on a one-year, $3.6 million deal.
Jordan, who spent the last three seasons with the Denver Nuggets, told us he was ready to suit up again without specifying a team ... and as luck would have it, he didn't have to sit by the phone too long.
Steve Ballmer is adamantly denying the L.A. Clippers had a role in Kawhi Leonard's massive endorsement deal with Aspiration ... claiming the contract came months after the NBA superstar already agreed to an extension with the team.
The billionaire owner opened up on the recent bombshell report on ESPN on Thursday ... kicking things off by saying the Clippers have always abided by the league's salary cap circumvention rules, as it's "the right thing to do."
Ballmer then went into detail on his relationship with the now-bankrupt company ... saying the team was approached regarding a potential sponsorship deal, and he felt it was a "match made in heaven" based on its emphasis on carbon neutrality.
5:20 PM PT -- The Los Angeles Clippers released a lengthy statement Wednesday evening addressing the allegations ... saying the idea Ballmer invested in Aspiration to "funnel money to Kawhi Leonard is absurd."
"Steve invested because Aspiration co-founders presented themselves as committed to doing right by their customers while protecting the environment."
The statement goes on to say that neither the team nor Steve had "any knowledge of improper activity by Aspiration" -- which was a team sponsor from the 2021 to the 2023 seasons before defaulting on their contract -- "or its co-founder until after the government initiated its investigation."
"There is nothing unusual or untoward about team sponsors doing endorsement deals with players on the same team. Neither Steve nor the Clippers organization had any oversight of Kawhi’s independent endorsement agreement with Aspiration. To say otherwise is flat-out wrong."
It closes with L.A. saying they "welcome" the league's investigation into Aspiration ... and will continue "to cooperate with law enforcement in its investigation into Aspiration's blatantly fraudulent activity."
12:53 PM PT -- The NBA just announced it is launching an investigation into the claims made in Pablo Torre's report.
Kawhi Leonardand the Los Angeles Clippers are under fire, accused of circumventing the NBA's salary cap with a huge, no-show endorsement deal ... but the team is firing back, calling BS on the allegations!
In the report from Pablo Torre -- who drew the ire of Jordon Hudson earlier this year -- Leonard is accused of signing a $28 million deal with a now bankrupt company, Aspiration, that was at least partially funded by the billionaire owner of the Clips, Steve Ballmer... as a way around salary cap restrictions.
If true, that's obviously a huge no-no as far as NBA rules go.
Despite the lucrative deal, Torre says he was unable to find any instance where Kawhi worked with the tree planting company.
"Every jersey I wore meant more than wins and stats," Wall said. "It was about representing something bigger. And it's something I couldn't do without you."
Travis Scottgot some R&R before his highly anticipated Coachella set by catching the L.A. Clippers game on Wednesday -- and unlike past experiences, he had no issues with security this time.
Celebrities flocked to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood for the Clippers' home contest against the Houston Rockets ... including names like Floyd Mayweather, Draya Michele, Steve Ballmer and La Flame himself.
Scott -- a Rockets fan -- was courtside with his Cactus Jack artist Sheck Wes ... and while he had great seats for the outing, we take it he was also thinking about closing down the massive music festival on Saturday.
Jared Goff and Christen Harper spent one of their final baby-less days taking in some ball -- they hit the Intuit Dome Wednesday night for the Clippers vs. Pistons matchup -- and the former L.A. Rams star made it clear his allegiances are firmly with Detroit.
Goff sported a Tigers ballcap for date night with his pregnant wife ... and even though the two were clearly rooting against the home squad, the Lions quarterback sure felt big love inside Steve Ballmer's new building.
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Fans begged him for autographs ... and, at one point, he got to go onto the court to snap some pics with Pistons legends Rip Hamilton and Jalen Rose.
Barack Obama took in a Clippers game Wednesday night in Los Angeles, without his better half by his side.
The former prez was seated courtside with L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his spouse, Connie Snyder, but Barack's famous wife -- Michelle -- was nowhere to be found.
Still, Barack had a good ol' time watching the Clippers beat the Detroit Pistons 123-115 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Time to start double-checking those X handles again ... NBA parody account NBACentel is back up and running after it went offline yesterday for unknown reasons.
The account announced its return Thursday morning in a post responding to Stephen A. Smith, who tweeted, "RIP Centel" -- with Centel sharing a clip of a man coming back to life.
Travis Scott was grabbed by a security staffer following the Lakers vs. Clippers game on Tuesday ... and TMZ Sports is told the whole ordeal was the result of a credential issue.
La Flame had courtside seats for the Battle of L.A. at the Intuit Dome ... where he was laser-focused on all the action throughout the night -- including Bronny James' first-career three-pointer.
But after the Purple and Gold secured the 122-97 victory, the fun briefly died down for the "FE!N" artist ... as he was yanked by a worker as he was making his way off the court and out of the arena.
The L.A. FireAid concert is getting massive contributions from the biggest names in the music industry ... but now the event is getting a financial boost from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who will match every donation during the event livestream!!
Event organizers made the announcement Tuesday morning ... saying the former Microsoft CEO -- who has a net worth of $129.4 billion -- and his wife, Connie, will help double the impact of the benefit.
This contribution is on top of the $15 million donation the couple pledged a few weeks ago to assist those impacted by the L.A. wildfires.
