Staff WriterOn Sunday morning in Las Vegas, Chris Paul worked out with his new teammate Stephen Curry. He noted that not many shots were missed during the practice.
Paul’s tenure with the Golden State Warriors appears to be off to a great start.
In his first interview as a member of the Warriors, the seasoned point guard disclosed a number of topics, including: He doesn’t expect this to be his final season as a player, he isn’t ready to accept that he isn’t a starter, and he still enjoys the game as much as he did as a young player.
And he doesn’t anticipate there being a problem with how it will all fit.
Not to sound insane or anything, but basketball is basketball at the end of the day, Paul added. It’s not brain surgery, you know. I’m about to interact with a group of guys who have been playing together for a while.
This summer, Paul was dealt twice, first from Phoenix to Washington as part of the deal that sent Bradley Beal to the Suns, and then from Golden State to the Wizards as part of the deal that sent Jordan Poole to the former.
The Warriors are betting on it to produce both immediate and long-term benefits. Paul, who is 38 years old, is still capable of playing; in his 18th season in the league, the 12-time All-Star averaged 13.9 points and 8.9 assists for Phoenix last year.
Additionally, his contract expires after the upcoming season. Poole has signed a four-year contract because the high-spending Warriors were unable to keep all of their highest-paid players together due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement’s restrictions.
Paul noted, “I’ve had the good fortune to play on three USA teams, 2006, 2008, and 2012.” It’s high-IQ basketball, with players who use reads and other strategies, and you learn by figuring it out. Right now, no one has the solutions.
He has started all 1,214 of his regular-season games as well as the 149 playoff games that have been played. However, it appears quite improbable that he will start in place of guards Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson for Golden State.
Paul might therefore find himself in a different role as he prepares to play in his 19th NBA season at the age of 38.
However, there is a clear trade-off because Paul has never won a championship and the Warriors, who have won four titles in the last ten years, will almost surely be viewed as title contenders heading into next season.
With Phoenix, he made it to the NBA Finals in 2021, but the Suns fell to Milwaukee in six games after blowing a 2-0 series lead.
Paul and the Warriors have shared a common history for a very long time. Paul has scored 1,172 points against Golden State, which is 14 more than he did against the Los Angeles Lakers. This is more points than he has ever scored against any other team.
He has faced them in 18 playoff games, which is a postseason record against any opponent. He has also faced San Antonio 18 times.
LeBron James and James Harden are the only active players with more points against Golden State, and nobody among active players, including playoffs, has played more games or had more assists against the Warriors than Paul.
And then there is the past, which Paul undoubtedly hopes he could forget, of how the Warriors foiled two of his greatest chances to win the championship.
In the Western Conference Finals in 2018, Paul and the Houston Rockets were up 3-2 until he got hurt, missing the remaining two games, and Golden State won—advancing to the NBA championship.
In addition, the Warriors defeated Paul and the Rockets once more in the 2019 postseason, this time in the West semifinals, before losing to Toronto in the NBA Finals.
He claimed that not even his relatives could believe he was now a member of the Warriors.
“It is what it is,” Paul remarked. “Sports.”
This upcoming season, the Warriors will go for their fifth championship in ten years, but Paul has never taken home a trophy. Paul stated that he simply still likes the game when questioned about whether that was the only reason he continued to play.
Paul declared, “I get the opportunity to play basketball every day and say, “That’s my way of life.” You ask, ‘Why do I do it?’ I did it when I was 4 or 5 years old for the same reason.
You get what I’m saying? If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t spend the time training, exercising, hooping, and being away from my family. That is still the case.
