Someone should tell Chris Paul that whacking Kevin Durant in the family jewels probably isn’t the best free-agency pitch.
Midway through the Los Angeles Clippers’ 120-108 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, Paul got Durant to bite on a pump fake, and then made him pay—not only with a converted pull-up jumper, but with a shot to the groin:
Um, ouch.
It took Durant a little while to compose himself, because obviously. Now the rest of the world is left to wonder if Paul meant anything by this. Was it truly an accident, or did he perhaps do it on purpose?
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News is inclined to think it’s the latter:
Chris Paul's love tap to Kevin Durant could result in a fine or possibly a one-game suspension....Clippers next game is Friday vs. Knicks.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) March 10, 2016
If Paul actually did try damaging Durant’s goods, that’s very, very not cool.
Either way, we can now officially cross off the Clippers from Durant’s list of possible free-agent destinations. They were long shots to begin with, since they won’t, as of now, have enough cap space to sign him outright. But after Paul’s accidental or contrived stunt, it’s unlikely Durant, or his privates, will feel safe playing in Hollywood.