Chris Paul’s Halloween party was a dud.
Weeks into the Clippers’ disastrous 2025-26 season, the now-jobless NBA legend and his wife. tried to host a holiday party to build some team chemistry.
And only three players showed up, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
“[Paul] invited guys to his suite at the Rams game, and he threw a Halloween party, and then… no one came. After that, they get worked the first night in Utah, which makes this even sadder. Like, seriously, a Halloween party, and maybe three players showed up. I think Brad (Beal) came, and (Ivica) Zubac,” Shelburne said during an appearance on ESPN’s “Mason & Ireland Show.”
“Chris is trying to be like, ‘I’m going to help you build some culture. I’ll bring guys over to my house. Let’s work out together. Let’s have a Halloween party.’ He and his wife threw the party in the suite after the Halloween game — and again, only three players came. So you’re looking at this and thinking: he’s trying to fill the leadership void the way he knows how, and every time he did, they would kind of recoil. Like, ‘Eh, it’s too much.’”
In a report for ESPN, Shelburne added that the event was meant as a “culture-building exercise, and that Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank and other team brass had “commended Paul for doing it.”
The news is the latest on the fallout between Paul, who had announced his impending retirement in November, and the Clippers, who shockingly sent the future basketball Hall of Famer home earlier this month.
Paul, who spent six seasons with the Clippers during the 2010s, signed a one-year, $3.6 million deal to return to the franchise over the offseason.
After he was let go, ESPN reported that Paul’s outspoken attitude was considered disruptive by some team decision-makers.
NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that Clippers head coach Ty Lue “refused to meet” with Paul when the 12-time All-Star wanted to discuss the allegations against him.
Haynes later added that assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy had confronted Paul on a team flight days before the split over “leeway” regarding changing defensive assignments.
Paul spoke out about the breakup earlier this month, saying he doesn’t “regret anything” about how it all went down.
“I’m actually at peace with everything,” Paul said. “More than anything, I’m excited about being around and getting a chance to play a small role in whatever anything looks like next.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
