Clippers Insider Makes It Clear Who’s To Blame For Bradley Beal Taking Chris Paul’s Number

Bradley Beal has already gotten plenty of criticism and mockery for taking Chris Paul's number 3 jersey with the Los Angeles Clippers , but The Athletic's Law Murray thinks the anger is being directed at the wrong person.

Appearing on The Zach Lowe Show , Murray defended Beal and instead placed the responsibility on the Clippers organization for allowing Paul's iconic number to immediately come back into circulation.

"Even right now, they are not showing that they are interested in even addressing their fans in any way possible. You know, everything has been defensive about what has come out."

"And I mean, I don't even put this on Brad because Brad gave up his number last year. He was here before Chris, and they have a great relationship. And, you know, Brad wore zero so Chris could have his number. This isn't about Brad."

"This is about who makes these decisions to say, 'We're keeping this number out of circulation,' which they did when Chris wasn't here for seven years. And now, the first offseason Chris is done playing, they give this number."

"So Brad's taking the heat, but let's apply the heat where it absolutely should be. And that's on a Clippers team that has been increasingly tone-deaf over the last couple of years."

Context is very important. Bradley Beal had worn number 3 throughout his NBA career with the Washington Wizards and the Phoenix Suns . Yet when Paul returned to the Clippers last season, he switched to zero so Paul could continue wearing his iconic number 3 jersey.

Now that Paul has retired, Beal is returning to number 3, which has prompted criticism from fans who think the Clippers should have preserved that number for arguably their greatest player in franchise history.

But Murray argues that the decision should entirely belong to the organization, and that seems to be the strangest part of this entire situation. Paul left the Clippers in 2017, but after that, they did not hand number 3 to another player during his long absence. Yet after returning for his farewell season and retiring, that jersey was immediately made available to Beal.

Paul's relationship with the franchise has also made the optics really worse. His final Clippers stint ended after only 16 games, and Paul later described the way he was treated as one of the most disrespectful experiences of his career.

Beal has already pushed back on suggestions that him wearing number 3 disrespects Chris Paul . Even Murray appears to agree with Beal's position, and his issue is now with how the Clippers have handled the situation.

The Clippers are facing a lot of scrutiny following their salary cap circumvention scandal involving Kawhi Leonard , making another PR controversy very poorly timed.

The Clippers also remain the only NBA franchise without an official player jersey retired. Outside of Bill Russell's league-wide number 6 jersey, which was retired after the legend passed away, Paul would seemingly be the obvious candidate to become their first.

Whatever eventually happens, Murray's message is straightforward: Beal did not disrespect Paul by reclaiming his longtime number. The Clippers were the ones with the authority to keep number 3 out of circulation, and instead they chose not to.