Basketball: NBA star Chris Paul rips into reporter

The Los Angeles Clippers lost in a close enounter at home to the Utah Jazz yesterday, putting them down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series in the NBA playoffs.

A fourth loss will see them eliminated from the competition, and star point guard Chris Paul was asked by a reporter in the post-match press conference whether he believed his side would make force a Game Seven at the Staples Centre on Sunday (Monday NZT).

That reporter will almost certainly be regretting asking the nine-time NBA All-Star that question.

The official transcript reads like this:

CP3 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1ceOPNQgNi

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 26, 2017

Paul's response follows Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook's angry outburst at a reporter's question aimed at Steven Adams during a press conference following the Thunder's loss to the Houston Rockets earlier this week.

While the question aimed at Adams was a legitimate one, the legitimacy of the question pointed at Paul is harder to support, as no professional athlete within a professional sporting franchise would publicly dismiss their own team's chances of winning their next game.

Although Paul's response may have been slightly cagey, it was one that should have been expected.