NBA Insiders Call Out Bradley Beal After Taking Chris Paul’s Number on Clippers

The unceremonious end to Chris Paul's reunion with the Los Angeles Clippers, and subsequently the end of his playing career, is one of the more unfortunate blotches on the mixed bag that was the Clippers' 2025-26 season. 

Paul had announced that it would be his last season in the first place and he was intentional in choosing the Clippers to be the team he would be taking his retirement tour with.

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Even if they weren't his original team, the Clippers were the team that Paul became a household name with and in turn Paul put the Clippers back on the map as their first real superstar of the 21st century, teaming up with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to form "Lob City" and generate some serious excitement for the team.

 Los Angeles Clippers fans cheer guard Chris Paul (3) during the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Intuit Dome. Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn ImagesRetirement Tour Cut Short

So Paul came back to Los Angeles looking for both sentimentality and success, but things went awry quickly. As the Clippers slipped further and further into the basement of the NBA with a disastrous 6-21 start to the season, Paul, who was a bench player at this point, tried to rally the team in a way that rubbed both players and coaches the wrong way. 

While Paul was getting on the bad side of his teammates, who weren't interested in the player-coaching style that Paul had done with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, things were going even worse for Paul's relationship with head coach Ty Lue. 

 Los Angeles Clippers fans cheer guard Chris Paul (3) during the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Intuit Dome. Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Eventually, communication between Paul and Lue fully broke down, culminating in the Clippers releasing Paul essentially in the middle of the night after the team had travelled to Houston. The Clippers later traded Paul to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him soon after, and Paul simply retired on the spot. 

Lost Numbers and Lost Legacies 

While that rollercoaster would have been enough to sour the relationship between Paul and the Clippers, Los Angeles added a new wrinkle to their fraught history by giving away Paul's #3 to Bradley Beal, who had worn #0 last season. 

 Los Angeles Clippers guard Bradley Beal (0) reacts against the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Paul has said in the past that he was privately assured that his #3 would go into the rafters when he retired, but instead it's been given away, seemingly erasing Paul's legacy even more.

In a recent segment on ESPN, Brian Windhorst blasted the Clippers for the move. 

“It’s kind of like starting. Starting for an NBA player is very ,very important. It’s the same thing with numbers. Chris Paul’s identity is CP3," Windhorst said (via SportsWithJay0 on X). "Even if Chris Paul didn’t operate the way he said he was going to. You can’t give out his number this year! And you can’t give it to Bradley Beal. No offense to Bradley Beal.”

Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) against the Phoenix Suns at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesDigs At Paul?

At this point, it's hard not to interpret the move of giving away Paul's number after all of his history with the team as a move of blatant disrespect at worst and disregard at best.

The latter is possible considering the amount of upheaval in the Clippers' front office in the wake of the salary cap circumvention scandal and all the punishments that came with it, but it's still hard to imagine that even with new or interim executives calling the shots that they wouldn't realize the gravity of giving away #3.

It's the latest, and possibly final, jab at Paul from the Clippers after a year of tension and it's safe to say that Windhorst was not a fan. 

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