If you're tuning into FX's "Clipped" docudrama, you might wonder what happened to the "Lob City" era Clippers.
LA had a roster loaded with talent as future Hall of Famer Chris Paul orchestrated an electrifying frontcourt duo of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
The Clippers never reached their full potential, though. Despite making six consecutive playoff appearances from 2012-17, LA couldn't get to a Western Conference Finals. It had three first-round exits and three second-round exits in that span, including a blown 3-1 lead to the Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals.
The Clippers didn't bounce back from that, and Paul and Griffin's relationship started to strain as the years went on.
The Sporting News breaks down their fallout below.
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Chris Paul vs. Blake Griffin beef, explained
As teammates, Paul and Griffin butted heads to the point that former Clippers assistant coach Tyronn Lue once compared them to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.
“I think the biggest thing for me, it was CP and Blake…. two great players, and it reminded me a lot of Kobe and Shaq," Lue said on the "All The Smoke" podcast with former Clipper Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
"It was special, very special. Two talented players. Two great players. And that was the biggest thing. When your two best players don’t really get along and take that next step together, it’s kinda hard.”
Paul is a known heel and Griffin has a big personality. It's no surprise that the two couldn't mesh, and head coach Doc Rivers thought it prevented the Clippers from reaching their full potential.
“I thought the relationships — Blake, DJ, Chris — I thought they were better [in 2016] but it was never great,” he told ESPN's "The Hoop Collective" podcast in 2017. “Their dynamic, it just didn’t work. That’s the bottom line.
“Even though I thought their relationship was much better [in 2016], I really did, I still didn’t think it was a championship relationship. And until you have that, it’s hard to win.”
In an appearance on "All The Smoke," Rivers said Paul and Griffin "were so different" and that there was "damage done" before he replaced Vinny Del Negro as head coach. Rivers described the two of them as extremely competitive, adding that they had a passive-aggressive relationship.
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Paul and Griffin have mended their relationship since then.
In 2020, on the "All The Smoke" podcast, Paul admitted that he and Griffin had their differences but he started to appreciate him more once they were no longer teammates.
"You don't realize what you have until it's gone," Paul said of Griffin. "Me and Blake absolutely had our issues here and there and whatnot, but I actually appreciated Blake a lot more after I left."
Two years later, Griffin insisted that he and Paul's differences were overblown.
“We’ve talked. We’ve played before. I think a lot of that with our team was a little blown out of proportion in my opinion. When you don’t win, things sort of get compounded. People want to write stories for clicks, not for the truth,” Griffin told New York Daily News' Kristian Winfield in 2022.
Griffin retired from the NBA in April, while Paul is still finishing out his career. Maybe one day soon, the two will cross paths and squash the beef for good.
MORE: Why Doc Rivers left the Celtics for the Clippers
Chris Paul and Blake Griffin stats with Clippers
Paul and Griffin were teammates for six seasons in LA. They appeared in a total of 387 games together, going 232-106 in the regular season and 22-27 in the playoffs. The Clippers won 65.6 percent of the games they shared the court.
Paul averaged 18.8 points, 9.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game with the Clippers. During the six seasons he played with Paul, Griffin averaged 21.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
While they failed to win a championship together, Paul and Griffin turned the Clippers into one of the most exciting teams in the NBA.
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