CP3 went on Pat McAfee and tried to explain his decision.
Chris Paul wanted everyone to know his timing was just a coincidence.
The retired 12-time All-Star sat down with Pat McAfee on Friday and finally addressed the Instagram story that blew up after the Los Angeles Clippers got bounced from the Play-In Tournament on April 15.
"I was playing cards with my family man," Paul said. "We was playing...I won the card game."
The post was that funeral meme people use when they want to dance on somebody's grave, and Paul dropped it minutes after the Clippers lost to the Golden State Warriors 126-121.
Fans connected the dots immediately.
Paul says it had nothing to do with the Clippers, but the timing alone made that a tough sell.
How CP3's Return to Los Angeles Fell Apart
Paul came back to the Clippers last July on a one-year, $3.6 million deal for what was supposed to be a farewell tour in his 21st NBA season.
It went sideways almost immediately. Paul and head coach Tyronn Lue clashed, and by early December reports came out that the two were not even speaking.
The Clippers sent Paul home on December 3 after just 16 games where the 40-year-old put up 2.9 points and 3.3 assists on 32.1 percent shooting.
It only got messier after that.
Paul went public accusing Clippers executive Lawrence Frank of being two-faced, and his wife Jada took her own shot at the franchise on social media.
He retired in February after 20 years and 12,552 career assists, but the beef with the Clippers did not go away just because his playing days did.
The Team Took Off Without Him
When the Clippers sent Paul home they were 5-16, looking like one of the worst teams in the West.
Then they flipped a switch.
Kawhi Leonard went on to average a career-high 27.9 points per game across 65 games while shooting 50.5 percent from the field, Darius Garland came over from Cleveland and steadied the backcourt, and the team finished 42-40.
A completely different squad.
Then the Warriors knocked them out in the play-in, and CP3 hopped on Instagram.
Nobody really believes the card game explanation, and that is sort of the point.
Paul spent six years building Lob City in Los Angeles, left, bounced around the league for eight seasons and came back only to get shown the door again.
He was never going to let that go quietly.
The Clippers have bigger things ahead of them with Leonard's contract situation and a wide-open offseason that could reshape the whole franchise.
Paul does not seem too worried about any of that.