Chris Paul will miss Monday’s game vs. Mavs for personal reasons

The NBA went on as scheduled on Sunday after the shocking news about the death of Kobe Bryant broke.

Multiple players were obviously emotional, struggling to hold back tears as they took the court.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were off on Sunday but return to action against the Mavericks on Monday. However, Chris Paul won’t be with them.

According to Maddie Lee of The Oklahoman, the latest injury report lists Paul as out due to personal reasons.

On the latest injury report, the Thunder has listed Chris Paul (personal reasons) as out for tonight’s game.

— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) January 27, 2020

Paul is not with the team in Oklahoma City, and per Joe Mussatto, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan did not want to elaborate on the conversation that he had with his point guard.

Chris Paul is not with the team tonight, Billy Donovan said.

Donovan wanted to keep his conversations with Paul private.

— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) January 27, 2020

Paul was a close friend of Bryant.

In a postgame interview following the last game Paul played against Bryant in 2016, Paul said that the thing he’d remember most about Kobe was his competitiveness, saying “everybody don’t play like that.”

Kobe Bryant died on Sunday morning, along with his daughter Gianna, and seven others when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in Calabasas, Calif.