Piece By: Nick Lombardi
At long last Chris Paul is in the NBA finals. It took 16 years of Point God play for Chris Paul to finally get his shot at a championship. He didn't just ride coattails either. He was the reason his team is 4 wins away from all time glory.
Chris Paul's NBA journey began in New Orleans. For the first 6 years of his career, he carried the New Orleans Hornets to playoff relevancy. He was absolutely lethal with a ball in his hands as he showed that he was an all time great passer and a gifted scorer. Mercifully, the Hornets traded him to the Clippers after the NBA vetoed a trade that would have made him a Laker. Six more seasons LA saw constant playoff failure due to injuries or the 2015 embarrassment against the Rockets. CP3 later joined the Rockets and got incredibly close to the finals before getting injured, forced to watch his team miss 26 consecutive 3s in Game 7 of the 2018 WCF.
After reviving his career in OKC, Chris Paul was sent to Phoenix. A perennial bottom dweller since Steve Nash left back in 2012. Failed draft picks, poor coaching, cheap ownership, the Suns had it all. Chris Paul has helped change this franchise. Yes James Jones and Monty Williams have been amazing, but they don't make on court and off court leaders like Chris Paul. The team performed incredibly well in a stacked Western Conference earning the two seed, yet right away, the Suns were underdogs. They were expected to lose to the 7 seed Lakers. They did not, they rocked the Lakers in 6 games, annihilated the Nuggets in 4 and just beat the Clippers in 6.
Yes there have been injuries in this post season and yes Phoenix has been fortunate to keep their stars on the court, but they have earned every bit of this. Chris Paul in particular was electric. With a dominant defensive guard in Patrick Beverly on him all game, CP3 scored 41 tonight with 31 coming in the 2nd half. The Suns were dominant. For the first time since Charles Barkley, the Suns are in the Finals. This team led by Chris Paul did what none of the Nash and D'Antoni Suns teams could do.
When Chris Paul was traded to OKC, I thought his chances of winning a ring were gone. I thought he was a washed up point guard making $40 million on a rebuilding team. In the 2 years since that trade, he has completely revitalized his career and now he's just 4 wins away from a late career title push that can only be rivaled by Hakeem Olajuwon.