The Clippers stunned everyone on Tuesday night. The aftershocks didn’t come until this morning. Between losing to the Heat in Miami and heading to Atlanta to play against the Hawks, Chris Paul was ‘sent home’ to LA. That’s as thematic as it is logistical. Paul’s teammates woke up to the news of his dismissal, went into the game, and won 92-115. Yet the most shocking twist is James Harden’s lack of awareness. The cynics aren’t buying it though.

After Ty Lue, the one person’s opinion on Paul’s dismissal fans wanted to know was James Harden’s. He was Paul’s teammate in Houston and they reunited with Clippers. But everything that was envisioned fell through.

Harden claimed that the news was a surprise to the whole team. He said, “Me too. Woke up and saw it on social media…I’m just as confused and shocked as you guys, the world…Definitely surprised me but not just Chris, it’s a lot we were dealing with but that’s out of my hands.”

On the outside, it’s a reasonable statement. There was almost no indication of CP3 getting such a cold dismissal. Only yesterday he was posting about how happy he was to reunite with the Clippers only to announce he was ‘sent home’ 24 hours later. But Harden’s response felt just as cold as what Lawrence Frank did.

The Athletic gave more context on what led to the Clippers decision. And given the revelations there, fans are unhappy with James Harden’s statement.

Fans accuse James Harden of repeating history

Ty Lue was pretty blunt that he didn’t approve or like how a player of Chris Paul’s calibre was cut out of the team cold turkey. He was emotional and emphatic on the matter, then got down to business. That was the kind of thing fans were hoping for from Harden.

His response had the opposite effect. Fans either show disbelief like, “Yeah i refuse to believe a prominent player on the roster like their point guard JAMES HARDEN , found out just like the rest of us💀 absolutely not,” or imply something by saying, “Star player of the team had 0 clue that Chris Paul had half the locker room and coach upset I’m sure.”

Some even labelled this a continuation of what started in Houston. “The chris Paul vs James harden feud continues,” was thrown between memes accusing Harden of pushing the Clippers to cut out Paul.

If reports at the time are to be believed, Harden gave the “him or me” ultimatum to the Rockets in 2019. That sent Paul to OKC in exchange for Russell Westbrook who Harden wanted as a teammate.

That murky piece of history is resurfacing through comments like, “This gotta be cap. He wanted cp3 outta Houston and traded him for Westbrook. Harden definitely knew and I hope harden request a trade from that 🤡 organization.”

Even if Clippers nation want to give Harden the benefit of the doubt, there’s a new narrative in this story. The Athletic confirmed through league insiders that teammates, coaching staff and the front office were getting increasingly frustrated with Paul’s constant criticism of everyone. The sources also claim Clippers players didn’t like Paul’s tone while addressing the locker room.  Although Lawrence Frank denied this was a factor in his decision, fans are building on this narrative.

The biggest speculation being, “I bet Chris Paul was fed up with team losing and James Harden always out partying till early morning and Ty Lou ,Franks not doing anything about it.”

Fans have been critical of The Beard’s hard partying off court and lack of defense on court. There’s never been any indication if CP3 was upset by it though.

Some went as far as to call it a blessing in disguise for Paul to move away from the Clippers organisation as history almost repeated with James Harden. His involvement is groundless speculation. We might nevee really know how Clippers players felt about Paul’s locker room presence and his exile anytime soon.