Leonard responds to Paul’s departure: This matter has nothing to do with me; he has always been a very cooperative teammate.

On December 15th, during the Clippers' practice, Leonard spoke to the media and was inevitably questioned about Paul’s departure.

Earlier, the Clippers sent Paul back to Los Angeles late at night and declared they were parting ways, stirring up a huge commotion. As a core member of the team, Leonard was unavoidably caught up in the rumors. Reports suggested that Leonard and Harden had grown tired of Paul’s nagging and felt “relieved” by his departure. Now, Leonard has shared his own perspective on the matter.

“I was quite surprised by this (Paul’s departure). From my conversations with him, he has always been a very cooperative teammate. All I can speak to are our interactions, which have always been positive, team-oriented. This issue has nothing to do with me; I don’t even know what happened at the time.”

Reporter Haynes previously revealed an incident involving Paul during his time with the Clippers. In the final moments of a game against the Mavericks, Paul suggested Leonard switch defense on Klay instead of sticking with him. The next day, Paul was warned by Jeff Van Gundy for overstepping his role.

Yesterday, Paul attended the Spurs vs. Thunder game in Las Vegas and afterward embraced former teammates like Wembanyama. In an interview, Haynes spoke again about Paul: “Paul still hasn’t come to terms with it and can’t believe how things ended up. He thought some people on the team were genuine friends, but in the end, he feels those people didn’t deserve the word ‘friend.’ Especially as his time with the Clippers was nearing its end, it was really disheartening for him. But he’s still training every day. Whenever I call him, he’s either working out in the gym or practicing on his home court with his son according to plan.”

Regarding Paul’s future, Haynes said: “Several teams have already reached out to him, wanting to know his next move. So he has quite a few options and isn’t short of offers. I don’t think he’ll just end things abruptly. I can’t imagine him saying goodbye to the game this way. I’m certain he’ll return at some point this season to finish out the year.”