Chris Paul is widely regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game, an amazing point guard, often even referred to as Point God. And while the recognition is well-earned, none of that was on display in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks this season. After a good first two games, Paul played terribly, culminating in a devastating loss at home in Game 7.
CP’s critics are enjoying themselves. There has been a lot of shade thrown his way for his terrible performances. Patrick Beverley is perhaps foremost among them, singling out Paul as the player teams should attack to beat the Suns. And Beverley has elaborated further on his takes, going on the ESPN show ‘Get Up’, and comparing Chris Paul to a cone on defense:
“CP can’t guard nobody man. Everybody in the NBA know that. … He’s a cone. … Give him the Ben Simmons slander.”
(via @GetUpESPN) pic.twitter.com/9bh8HOdJ0J
— ESPN (@espn) May 16, 2022
“Ain’t nobody worried about Chris Paul when they play the Phoenix Suns… I’m just letting you know how NBA players feel. He’s finessed the game to a point where he gets all the petty calls, all the swipe throughs at the end. We gonna be honest? He should have fouled out. The last game too. You see the replay against Brunson, hit him on the shoulder, hit him on the mouth, ref don’t call anything. If that’s me, ‘Oh, review it. Oh, Flagrant 1.’ If that’s him, they don’t call it. So let’s not get it twisted man. He can’t guard.”
“CP can’t guard anybody man. Everybody in the NBA know that. You know those cones in the summer that you dribble around? What does the cone do? Nothing. He’s a cone… It’s just that y’all don’t want to accept that. Give him the Ben Simmons slander, give him the PG13 slander. Give him the slander you give everybody.”
Beverley is pulling no punches when it comes to calling out Paul, and he partly has a point, even though the takes do seem a little more personal. Paul will have a long offseason as he continues to try and win a championship in the NBA before he eventually calls it a career. This might have been his last shot though. He is already 37 after all.
