The news that has dominated the NBA world this past week was the surprising reveal that the Los Angeles Clippers released franchise legend Chris Paul just 21 games into what was supposed to be his retirement tour with the team that he put on the map years ago.

The first announcement came from Paul himself, who posted a cryptic Instagram story in the middle of the night that read, "Just found out I'm being sent home," with a peace sign emoji added to the end. That news was eventually confirmed, and the Clippers put out a statement that the team had cut ties with Paul and that they would "work with him on the next step of his career."

It's a shocking move for the Clippers to make in the midst of a lackluster season. Paul was by no means a top scorer for the organization, averaging 2.9 points in just over 14 minutes a game, but his presence on the roster was more so a way for Paul to finish out his final season with the team that he spent the most significant time with in his 21-year career.

For all of that to end at around 3:00 am local time, as the Clippers were in Atlanta to play the Atlanta Hawks when everything went down, is a remarkable explosion for the organization and an incredibly abrupt end to Paul's last dance. 

It's left the entire NBA world shocked, especially Paul's own teammates, who seem to be just as surprised as everyone else in the league at the news. 

James Harden said that he found out the news on social media and was "just as shocked and confused" by the news as everyone else, and Kawhi Leonard has weighed in on the events as well. 

"It was shocking to me. I guess they had a conversation and front office made a decision," Leonard said (via Ohm Youngisuk).  

In the days that have followed, more light has been shed on Paul's deteriorating relationship with Clippers leadership, particularly head coach Ty Lue. Paul reportedly had a tendency to call out his fellow and his coaches on mistakes the team was making, which likely were plentiful considering the Clippers are now 6-16 this season.

Paul was becoming known as a negative locker room presence, but when he reportedly tried to speak with Lue about this and set things right, his coach refused to meet with him. 

It's a disastrous end for the Clippers and Paul in what's been a disastrous season so far for Los Angeles. And there are still more questions than answers as to how bad Paul's presence on the team could have possibly been for his team to ship him off so unceremoniously in the middle of the night.