18-year NBA veteran Chris Paul has been a journeyman throughout his NBA career. Starting in New Orleans, where CP3 first made a name for himself, the legendary point guard then moved to the Clippers, Rockets, Thunder, and Suns, before this summer’s big trade forced him to move yet again.
This time, he’s in Golden State, which would seem like an improvement based on his previous stops. With the Warriors, Paul will have a real chance to win alongside some of the game’s best players. But not everybody thinks that things will be easy for Paul, and Paul Pierce even went so far as to say this upcoming season will be the biggest challenge of his career thus far.
“Let me tell you something, this is gonna be one of the toughest years of Chris’s career. Just mentally. You know why? Your whole career, you’re a starter, you got the ball in your hands. Now, you gotta make the adjustment mentally to coming off the bench. So now that’s a different type of preparation. You might come in off the bench and you don’t really got a lot of time to warm up. As an older player, that’s difficult.”
Is this coming season with the Warriors going to be the toughest mental challenge of Chris Paul’s career? Our crew thinks so… @shobasketball pic.twitter.com/tKGQjZEWrh
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) July 17, 2023
Pierce isn’t just speaking randomly here. As an NBA Hall of Famer, he was once a go-to option for the Celtics until he got older and was forced to accept being a role player. Paul finds himself in a similar situation now with the Warriors.
Just a season ago, the guy was practically running the show in Phoenix, but that’s over now with Steph/Klay in the backcourt and it may take some time for him to come to terms with this reality.
Is Paul Ready To Accept A New Role?
Of course, CP3 has already shown some resistance to coming off the bench. This month, it’s been reported that he’s hopeful to start alongside the Splash Bros. but there are doubts about how such a lineup would work.
“When he pushed back against the idea that he would come off the bench for the Warriors this season during his introductory news conference, it’s safe to assume that he knew precisely what he was doing,” wrote The Athletic’s Sam Amick. “Regardless of what comes next, it’s quite clear that Paul is holding out some hope that there’s a way for him to start (and no, people, not in replacement of Steph Curry and/or Klay Thompson, but with them in a small lineup).”
Curry and the Warriors seem excited to have Chris Paul step in for Jordan Poole, but there are a lot of skeptics who question the fit. For a team already loaded with guards, how much will a nearly 40-year-old Chris Paul help them? One way or another, we will find out soon enough…
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