Many big trades happened during this NBA offseason, from Kyrie Irving going to the Boston Celtics to Isaiah Thomas being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Chris Paul's decision to leave the Los Angeles Clippers after six seasons was big news as he was one of the team's star players. In his docu-seres with ESPN, Paul sat down with Jay-Z to discuss his decision.

The culture

Paul's biggest reason for leaving the team was because he didn't like the Clippers' "culture." According to Billboard, CP3 didn't think his team was trying hard enough to contend.

He discussed how the Golden State Warriors haven't lost a game in the playoffs and thinks his teammates weren't giving it their all.

His previous coach, Doc Rivers, had something to say about Paul's statement. "When you leave, you should just leave," said the coach. He explained that he thinks Paul's statement is an attempt to justify why he left and tore down the Clippers.

Rivers also discussed that he was not happy with the culture of his team during the past year, but put most of the blame on Paul. According to LA Times, he said that the bad culture was caused by players who were thinking about leaving. "If you’re thinking about being out, you’re probably out," the coach explained.

He also shared some good remarks about Paul, saying that he did great things for the team in the six years he was there.

Rivers addressed Paul's comment about the team not giving it their all saying that he thought they always did their best to attempt to defeat the Warriors. He claimed that they were the last to beat the team in the playoffs back in 2014 and their loss in the following round was only due to the team being "discombobulated."

A big decision

In his interview with Jay-Z, Paul talked about how big the decision he had to make was.

The Clippers were offering him a five year deal for $210 million, but that did not sway him. "I had the ball in my hands way too much," Paul claims. He said he discussed the issue for a long time and grew tired of having to do so much.

The decision was also a big deal because of his family. Paul has a wife and children who had to relocate to Houston so that he could play for the Rockets.

In the docu-series, which was filmed before his decision, he talked about how much of an impact his kids made the decision.

Removing them from their schools was not ideal, but in the end, Paul decided his career with the Clippers was over. Although he said he loved living in Los Angeles, the player needed a change. The Rockets faced the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and won their first game of the season by one point.
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