Chris Paul won’t envision future without an NBA Title
Like most players, current Golden State Warriors point guard Chris Paul is quite steadfast in winning an NBA Title before his career is over.
Paul has been unfortunate with his (injury) luck throughout most of his career, which has led to his teams coming just shy of taking home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The closest one of his teams have gotten was the Phoenix Suns in 2020-21 after leading 2-1 in the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Milwaukee rallied back to win the team’s first NBA Title in a half-century that season. Now with Golden State, who is almost certainly in position to (at least) earn a play-in spot in the Western Conference, Paul, 38, doesn’t want to imagine a world where he doesn’t seek glory!
“Even though I think I’m gonna win a championship before I’m done, yes absolutely,” Paul said last week on Dwyane Wade‘s ‘The Why’ podcast. “I can’t even process not winning a championship, that’s literally how I am built. But I love what I’ve been able to do with my career.
“I probably was stressed about that once upon a time but it’s crazy how things change, life changes… At year 19, now, I’m trying to give my teammates… perspective of this and for not taking it for granted.”
Many players envision the same, but for Paul, it’s slightly different. Including Golden State, Paul has played for six teams throughout his career: The New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Paul, who’s in his 19th season, has played in 15 different playoff series, though his teams have advanced by the past the first round once, Conference Finals twice and NBA Finals once. He’s averaged 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.9 steals throughout his playoff career (149 games), shooting 48.4 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from deep.
It will be an uphill climb for Paul to make the West Finals this season–let alone the NBA Finals–with Golden State’s current seeding, though it’s not impossible.
Assuming he doesn’t win a title this year and Paul’s gets waived ($30 million 24-25 deal is non-guaranteed), perhaps another contender in a better position will acquire the future Hall of Fame point guard. Winning is hard–but never say never!
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