On December 3, the Clippers announced that they planned to part ways with Paul and sent him home. 

The abrupt ending caught everyone off guard as Paul signed with the Clippers in the off-season to play his final year of basketball on the team where he established himself as an all-time great. 

Ahead of the NBA Cup Finals, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was asked about Paul's dismissal from the team. 

"I've talked to Chris. I've talked to (Clippers owner) Steve Ballmer, but frankly not about this. I was probably in bed and saw an alert on my phone. I was checking my phone in the middle of the night and that's when I learned of it. I would say that I was dismayed for everyone involved. 

"I'm particularly close to Chris because he was the President of the Players Association for many years. We probably wouldn't have managed to play through the pandemic and the bubble in Orlando if not for Chris working with Michelle Roberts and people at the league in a constructive way. I've admired his leadership over the years. 

"I would love to see him finish off the season on another team. I would love to see him finish strong."

Asked if he would have liked to see the situation handled differently, Silver replied, "That's not for me to say. I did not talk to Steve Ballmer about it. The first I saw it, it was done. It doesn't seem my role to cross-examine the participants here. It's an unfortunate situation that it ended the way that it did."

Silver closed by saying he hopes Chris is focused on the future and joining another team, hoping there is mutual interest. 

This season is Paul's 21st of his career. He is set to retire at the end of the year. 

Before signing with the Clippers in the offseason, he played for the organization from 2011 to 2017, helping lead them to multiple playoff appearances and establishing Lob City with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. 

He has made the All-Star team 12 times and the All-Defensive team nine-times. 

He is second all-time in assists with 12552. 

He served as the President of the Players Association from 2013 to 2021. He was in attendance for the NBA Cup Semifinal between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, two of his former teams. 

Despite parting ways with Paul, the Clippers have not been able to turn things around. 

They are 1-5 since Paul left the team, losing five straight games after defeating the Atlanta Hawks in their first game without CP3. 

They are coming off a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and currently sit 14th in the West with a 6-20 record. 

They'll play the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that owns their 2026 first-round pick, on Thursday.