Because of how well he’s continued to play, people tend to forget that Chris Paul has been in the league for 15 years. During his career, Paul has been a perennial All-Star and All-NBA player.
And most recently, he helped the Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals for the first time since the days of Charles Barkley in 1993. 2021 was Paul’s first appearance in the NBA Finals.
And while he didn’t win, Paul recently mentioned that he is addicted to the feeling of playing in the NBA Finals.
CP3 has been part of a lot of great teams. He was with the Los Angeles Clippers during their most successful period when he formed ‘Lob City’ with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
And when he left the Clippers, he joined the Houston Rockets. With Paul in the squad, the Rockets were the team that came the closest to toppling the Golden State Warriors at full strength.
An injury to Paul during the 2018 Western Conference Finals meant the Rockets couldn’t stack up to the overpowered Warriors, who defeated them in 7 games.
And after a brief stint in OKC, Paul joined the Suns and immediately transformed them into a contender.
CP3 has been around the block for quite some time and has played with a lot of stars in his time.
One player he got the chance to work with during an offseason in the past was Gilbert Arenas. The former Wizards All-Star and CP3 worked out together, and Paul recalled how he was destroying Arenas during their encounter.
“We played one-on-one. We played half-court, three dribbles. Then we played the other free-throw line. And this is so crazy because I remember we always used to have to play in angles. So think about that; from the other free throw line, you get three dribbles. That’s hard unless you know what you’re doing… I was killing Gil.”
Despite being 36 years of age, Paul is playing at the highest level and putting on some of the best performances of his career. And he will continue to do so next season, after signing a massive extension with the Suns.
