It is safe to say that the bridge between Chris Paul and the LA Clippers has been burnt to a crisp.
The Clippers’ season came to an end on Wednesday night with a 126-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference’s 9/10 play-in tournament game. Despite leading for much of the night and holding a 13-point advantage at one point, the Clippers collapsed late in the fourth quarter at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. and were eliminated from playoff contention as a result.
Just minutes after the Clippers got eliminated, the retired former Clippers star Paul had the pettiest post to social media. Paul took to his Instagram Story to post the popular meme image known as “RIP Bozo” (used to celebrate the downfall of someone else).
Chris Paul on Instagram after the Clippers lose to Golden State pic.twitter.com/EpMgljlQrt
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) April 16, 2026
The original caption of that meme image read, “I stopped by one of my biggest haters funeral today. Just to make sure that n—a was dead #RIPBozo #DieHatersDie.” Clearly, Paul was very happy to see the Clippers’ season end.
Paul starred for the Clippers from 2011-17 and then returned for a second stint with the franchise in 2025. But the reunion quickly went bad after Paul clashed with multiple Clippers coaches before finally being sent home by the team in the middle of a horrific 6-21 start to the season.
Eventually, the Clippers would sell off Paul at the trade deadline, and Paul never played in another NBA game before formally announcing his retirement in February. Paul would later accuse Clippers executive Lawrence Frank of being two-faced with him, and Paul’s wife Jada even went on to take a public shot at the Clippers of her own.
Interestingly enough, the Clippers righted the ship soon after sending Paul home and finished out the year at a very respectable 42-40 for their 15th consecutive winning season. But Paul is getting the last laugh on the Clippers now that their 2025-26 campaign has still come to an early end (though one can debate the merits of this kind of petty behavior by Paul at almost 41 years old).
