Chris Paul trained with his new teammate Stephen Curry in Atlanta on Sunday morning before traveling to Las Vegas. His assessment of the session: They didn’t miss too many shots.
Clearly, Paul’s time with the Golden State Warriors is off to a good start.
The veteran point guard revealed more than a few things in his first official interview session as a member of the Warriors: He’s not ready to admit he’s no longer a starter, he doesn’t expect this to be his last season as a player. player and he gets the same joy from the game now as he did when he was a child.
And as far as how it will all fit together, he doesn’t expect that to be a problem.
“I don’t want to sound crazy or whatever, but at the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Paul said. “You know, it’s not brain surgery. I’m going to get into a situation with a bunch of guys that have been playing together for a long time.”
Paul was traded twice this summer, first from Phoenix to Washington as part of the move that sent Bradley Beal to the Suns, and then back to Golden State as part of the move that sent Jordan Poole to the Wizards.
It’s a move the Warriors hope will lead to short- and long-term gains. Paul, 38, can still play; the 12-time All-Star he averaged 13.9 points and 8.9 assists last season for Phoenix, effective still in his 18th season in the league.
He also has no contract after next season. Poole is signing a four-year contract; the big-spending Warriors simply couldn’t keep all of their highest-paid players together given the limitations of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play on three USA teams, 2006, 2008 and 2012,” Paul said. “It’s high IQ basketball, guys playing with reads and stuff, and what you learn is you figure it out. Not everyone has the answers right now. We’ll practice, I’m sure there will be some things I have to learn, some things They have to learn about me, but that’s the case with any team.”
He has appeared in 1,214 regular-season games and another 149 in the playoffs, starting every single one of them. But it obviously seems unlikely that he will replace guards Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson in Golden State’s starting lineup.
So at 38 and about to enter his 19th NBA season, Paul could find himself in a new position. But there’s an obvious trade-off, as the Warriors will almost certainly be considered title contenders going into next season after winning four championships in the past decade, and Paul has never won his championship. He went to the NBA Finals with Phoenix in 2021, but the Suns blew a 2-0 series lead and lost to the Bucks in six games.
“It will be a conversation for us when camp starts…I think we’ll figure all that out,” Paul said.
The stories of Paul and the Warriors have been intertwined for a long time. Paul has scored more points against Golden State than any other team: 1,172, which is 14 more than he scored against the Los Angeles Lakers. He has played 18 playoff games against them, tied for the most against any opponent; he also played the Spurs 18 times in the postseason.
Among active players, including the playoffs, no one has played more games or provided more assists against the Warriors than Paul, and LeBron James and James Harden are the only active players with the most points against Golden State.
And there’s the story Paul probably wishes he could forget, how two of his best championship chances were blown by the Warriors. In 2018, Paul and the Houston Rockets had a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference finals before he got hurt, missed the final two games, and Golden State prevailed, en route to the NBA title. And in 2019, the Warriors beat Paul and the Rockets again, this time in the West semifinals before falling to the Raptors in the NBA Finals.
He said even his family can’t believe he’s with the Warriors now.
“It is what it is,” Paul said. “Sports.”
The Warriors will be looking for a fifth title in 10 years next season, and Paul has never won a ring. But when asked if that was the only motivation for him to keep playing, Paul insisted that he still loves the game and intends to keep playing it for several years.
“I get to play basketball every day and say, ‘That’s my way of life,'” Paul said. “So you’re saying, ‘why do I?’ For the same reason I did when I was 4 or 5 years old. You know what I mean? I wouldn’t spend my time training, working out, jumping and being away from my family if I didn’t love it. That hasn’t changed.”
Associated Press report.
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