Gilbert Arenas told a story of playing against Chris Paul before the point guard even made it to the NBA during a recent livestream. A trainer asked him if he could play 1-on-1 with a young rookie, Chris Paul, who was looking to enter the NBA. Arenas was out of shape during the offseason and would get embarrassed by Paul, who beat him 20 times in a row while playing 1-on-1.
“I get a call from Edon, the trainer. He goes like ‘I got a rookie who is trying out for the draft. I told him you’re the only person that knows to be in some type of shape to play 1s. We know him as Chris Paul. We go through the little workout. Boom! We was like ‘Alright, let’s play 1s.'”
“It is June. I’m not in shape. I’m chilling. He beat me in 1s. ‘Run it back real quick, young fella.’ Beat me again. ‘Run it back!’… He beat me 20 times… I was 0-20. I don’t know if anyone has ever been to Chris Paul’s camps. I can tell you this – You ask him who was the hardest motherf**ker he had to face in the NBA, he’s gonna say me. I took that sh*t so personally, when we played him in a season, oh no!”
Arenas wasn’t kidding when he said he would go after Chris Paul. In the two games Arenas played against CP3 in his prime, he averaged 31.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game while shooting 50.0% from the field, 60.0% from beyond the arc, and 88.2% from the free-throw line.
Paul and Arenas would face off later in their careers too. But by that point, Gilbert was a shell of himself thanks to injuries and was playing very limited minutes with both the Magic and Grizzlies, respectively.
Paul was considered one of the brightest prospects heading into the 2005 NBA Draft. He would end up getting selected with the fourth overall pick by the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans). The young point guard had a brilliant rookie season, 16.1 points, 7.8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field, 28.2% from deep, and 84.7% from the free-throw line.
For his performances, Paul would be named the Rookie of the Year in 2006. He would go on to become one of the greatest point guards in the history of the sport, earning 12 All-Star selections, 11 All-NBA selections, and nine All-Defensive selections across his career. Paul would be named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, one of the highest honors a contemporary player could have.
He is still playing today, now representing the San Antonio Spurs. Many consider Paul one of the greatest point guards of all time and expect him to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer once he calls time on his legendary career.
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