Bleacher Report Sunday published a report about Klutch Sports apparently being unhappy with Los Angeles Lakers VP of basketball operations Rob Pelinka for not trading Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets for John Wall, a fellow Klutch client.
But according to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s “First Take” Monday, Paul had called Smith to tell Smith his side of the story. Paul denied the report and called it an “absolute lie”:
“Rich Paul called me yesterday and asked me to quote him on this story about him and Klutch Sports and essentially them wanting the Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook and a first-round pick to Houston for John Wall.
“He wanted me to state emphatically that there was absolutely, positively no truth to that whatsoever. He never did that. He did not do that. The people who wrote the story never contacted him to get any kind of perspective from him on that.
“It is an absolute lie, and he said ‘Could you please do me a favor and quote me and tell the world that I specifically said that’s a damn lie. There is no truth. It never happened.’ Just for what it’s worth, that’s what Rich Paul says about these stories that have been put out there. Fair enough, so I quoted him.”
This is definitely notable since it came directly from the horse’s mouth. The public feud between LeBron James, Paul and Klutch Sports and the Lakers’ front office continues to escalate.
