This is my post for Chris Paul Blog Day (check out my co-blogger, ticktock’s, post here). To read the roundup of the rest, check out At the Hive.
This year, we haven’t just watched a young player get good. We haven’t just watched a good player get great. We’ve witnessed the birth of a legend. It’ not just his averaging 20/10/2.7, something no one’s ever done. It’s not just his starting his playoff career averaging 30/10/3.5, something no one’s ever done. It’s how he does it.
It’s the fire in his eyes, the quick anger he quickly tempers into crafty moves and adroit down-court rushes. It’s the fist pumped in the air under the thunder roar of 18,000 people as he wills his team to victory. And not just on the night he feels like playing. It’s time and time again. Night in and night out. He takes no games off, no plays off. He never surrenders. He’s the one pleading with his coach to stay in the game when he feels the game slipping away, he’s the one sacrificing his body for every point, yet he’s also the first one off the bench roaring in support of his teammates when they make a play. He’s someone about whom we’ll be telling stories to the next generation long after he’s walked away from the game.
Moreover, it’s what he does off the court as much as on. It’s his growing reputation around the league as someone who respects everyone around him. It’s an old school mentality in a new world. It’s the handshake to the opposing team’s arena crew, the high-fives to the people sitting courtside; it’s the smile on his face as he presents the game ball with a wide-eyed twelve-year-old. And having met him and spoke to him, I know it’s not just conjecture. He’s just as genuine with a random fan as he is with is own friends.
And at the end of the day, it’s that heart that lifts him. That lifts a city. That prove everyone who doubted wrong. There are players in the league who will win scoring titles and other individual hardware, but not all of them have the heart to make everyone around them better and to be one with the game. That takes someone special. It takes the heart of a champion.
It takes someone like Chris Paul.
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May 6th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
I approve this message.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
To be honest, I feel it was a blessing to have a 18 win season, not only because of our standings, but because the franchise needed something to distinguish apart from the original Charlotte moniker, hence CP3.
Even the beginning of the season people were surprised that New Orleans had a basketball team, much less cared. CP really is a blessing to have on this team. Truly revitalized the franchise, at least for the time being.
So happy 23rd CP. Just know that you’re making me and a bunch of other young’ns look bad. Really bad.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Chris Paul looks like some god out of mythology in that picture.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Chris Paul -IS- a god out of mythology!
Great post mW!
May 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
No doubt, Mark. The Hornets are a runaway business success this year. And as some have pointed out, the Saints, with the NFL revenue sharing, would have survived regardless of how the team performed upon return to Nola. But the Hornets, with another 18 win season would likely have been looking to sneak out of town and pundits nationwide would have heralded the death of New Orleans. Instead, blessed, as you say, with CP and cast of true ballers, the team has created business growth where none has existed, and these guys and coaches have saved the team for a city full of basketball fans.