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DALLAS — Chris Paul turned 37 on Friday, in the midst of yet another memorable playoff run and perhaps his best chance to capture the championship that has eluded him during his 17 seasons in the NBA. Paul, one of the NBA’s greatest control freaks, has never wanted to be the player that rode the coattails of another team’s success en route to a late-career title just so he could say that he retired with a ring. So it should come as no surprise that even this deep into his Hall of Fame run, he’s not had to turn back the clock to who he was once. Chris Paul has never stopped being Chris Paul.
The Suns version of Paul is nearly indistinguishable from the player we’ve seen since he entered the NBA in 2005. Aside from a dip in regular-season scoring—which seems by design more than anything else—Paul remains as good as he’s ever been. Consider: Paul’s effective field goal percentage in two seasons in Phoenix is the second-best mark of any of his five career stops. His 53.6% EFG in ’22 was the sixth-best of his 17 years. His 10.8 assists per game this season were his third-best. In 2016, Paul ran a pick-and-roll on 51.9% of his possessions and averaged 0.94 points per possession. Six years later, he ran them 57.2% and averaged 0.99 points per possession. Meanwhile, in the postseason, Paul is putting up the fifth-best scoring and assist averages of his playoff career.
We may not be seeing the very best of Chris Paul in Phoenix. But considering the mileage on his body—which is very much not built like another famous 37-year-old in LeBron—it’s shocking that we haven’t seen the worst of Paul, either. And it’s clear his abilities on the court still allow him to lead by example.
After Phoenix’s Game 2 win over the Mavs, Devin Booker spoke in awed tones of Paul’s ability to manipulate what’s happening on the floor. Jae Crowder chuckled as he explained his point guard’s killer instinct in the fourth quarter. And ahead of Game 3, 26-year-old Cam Johnson—who was nine when Paul entered the league—spoke of how he soaks in everything Paul does to stay effective, from his diet to his workout regimen to the amount of water he drinks on a daily basis.
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During his year in Oklahoma City, Paul was happy to take the younger players on that team under his wing, though he made it clear in no uncertain terms that even the strangeness of that situation would not reduce his desire to win. During his Phoenix tenure, there’s been no mention of him preparing the team for the future or trying to be the sage veteran who regales everyone with tales of his glory days. That’s because Paul is still very much in the upper echelon of superstars. And his counting stats, though in line with practically every other year of his career, still don’t do justice to how much he’s elevated those around him.
Deandre Ayton has gone from head-scratching pick to one of the most versatile bigs in the NBA. Booker was putting up huge numbers on lottery teams, now he’s one of the most feared competitors in the league. Crowder found a team that actually wanted him for two full seasons for the first time in more than half a decade. Mikal Bridges has turned into the league’s premier supersized 3-and-D player. All can be traced back to the acquisition of Paul, who joined the Suns on the upswing and threw napalm on the fire. (I’m just assuming that would be even more explosive than gas.)
Of course, very little of this will matter to Paul unless he’s able to win. His eerie consistency, his ability to defy conventions of time, his insistence on continuing to draw ludicrous fouls on opponents, they all stem from his singular obsession with winning everything he does. If there’s one thing I’d guess Paul does want to be different this season, it’s that he’s finally able to win a championship. If the Suns are able to finish the job, it will be because the Chris Paul in Phoenix is the same one we’ve seen our entire lives.
