Could LA Clippers' Messy Divorce with Vinny Del Negro Cost Them Chris Paul?

If Donald Sterling doesn't publicly amend his comments on Vinny Del Negro's firing, the Los Angeles Clippers will lose Chris Paul.

According to Chris Broussard's report for ESPN, the star point guard feels wronged by the organization because he is taking the blame in the press for Del Negro's departure.

The assumption was that, even after Del Negro led L.A. to a franchise-record 56 wins in 2012-13, the Clippers players had lost faith in their head coach. Sterling, the Clippers owner, all but confirmed that in comments to T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times:

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"The coach is a wonderful man, and I'm sad about the whole thing," Sterling said.

"Was this done," I asked, "just to hang on to Chris Paul?"

"I always want to be honest and not say anything that is not true," Sterling said. "So I'd rather not say anything.

"But you know, the coach did a really good job. I think he did. And I liked working with him. There are just factors that make life very complicated and very challenging."

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That's a damning enough "no comment" as it is, but Sterling betrays his words and doesn't stop there. His later comments aren't any less veiled, but they do seem to place the onus squarely on Paul and Blake Griffin.

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"So I wonder, is this decision being made because the players are now calling the shots? Am I off base?"

"No, you're not off base," Sterling said. "This is a players' league, and, unfortunately, if you want to win you have to make the players happy. Don't you think that's true?"

I answered: "No. Money makes players happy."

Sterling disagreed.

"It's not entirely true. Money is not the only thing that makes them happy," Sterling said. "They want to win, and they want the best opportunity to win. Do they know what the best opportunity to win is? I frankly don't know.

"But if you have special players, and special players think that they know the best opportunity to win, you have to support them."

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First of all, Sterling's candidness and tone deafness are astounding. If he wants to make his players happy, why is he admitting to a reporter that he was forced to make a saddening firing to make his players happy?

It's both a betrayal of his players' confidence and, at least in Paul's case, off base.

Per Broussard, Paul specifically told the organization he didn't want any role in deciding Del Negro's future. He feels offended for being wrongly thrown under the bus in this public dispute, and Broussard's Clippers source believes that could affect his outlook on this summer.

"He's angry right now and his anger is directed toward the Clippers organization," the source said. "Chris is a man of principle and if he feels like you've gone against his principles, it will affect how he feels about you. He's very agitated that his name has been put out there as the reason for Vinny's firing. He had nothing to do with it."

If Simers is to be believed, the money will keep Paul a Clipper despite this conflict.

Los Angeles can sign Paul to a five-year, $107.3 million contract this offseason. Under the current NBA salary cap regulations, that is a longer and more lucrative deal than any of the 29 other NBA teams could offer Paul.

However, Broussard's source and Sterling believe that Paul is interested in more than money; he also wants an organization that supports him and gives him the resources necessary to win.

As down as Paul was following the Clips' playoff exit—he continually said "we" in his postgame comments and acted as though his place as a Clipper was an unspoken certainty—he certainly doesn't feel the same closeness to L.A. after Sterling publicly scapegoated him.

He'll surely have other suitors to consider this summer.

The Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks could both be enticing options; each has the cap space to offer Paul a max contract, needs a point guard and would give him a chance at a fresh start with a grateful new organization.

Paul has already made plenty of money in his career and could very conceivably take a pay cut in favor of his beliefs and his happiness—though in Dallas he could make more in four years than he could in L.A. because Texas has no state income tax, making that a win-win scenario.

Nevertheless, if he likes his chances to win elsewhere or simply doesn't want to work with L.A. anymore, he would be well justified to walk.

That's why Sterling needs to go back to the media and make things right.

Whether the Clippers owner feels he owes Paul an apology or not, this is something he has to do to appease his disgruntled star. Every day this issue lingers just risks alienating Paul further.

If he is as principled as he seems, then Paul would respect Sterling taking responsibility and trying to make it up to him. As long as the media keeps this story alive—first it was Sterling's comments, then it was Paul's reaction to them—Paul's opinion of the Clippers organization will suffer and his odds of leaving will increase.

Sterling did have one good insight in his otherwise asinine comments: The NBA is a players' league, and players need more than money to be happy. If he really believes that and wants to keep Paul a happy Clipper, he just has to apologize for the rest of what he said.