This is my post for Chris Paul Blog Day (just in case my co-blogger mW decides to put up his own later). To read the roundup of the rest, roll on over to At the Hive.

First off, I’d like to send out a big “Happy Birthday!” to Chris Paul, who turns 23 today. When I turned 23, I was spending the summer sailing, getting a tan, and being generally useless, having just quit law school. Chris Paul? Is spending his 23^rd birthday in a second round series against the defending NBA champions.

In fact, the Hornets’ second consecutive 18+ point victory over the Spurs wrapped up about half an hour before the clock struck midnight, ringing in said birthday. Chris Paul racked up 30 points and 12 assists. The Hornets went up 2-0 in the series. The Spurs will be hearing “Woooo!” in their sleep tonight and, possibly, all the long, humid months of the Texas summer.

Some people thought this column yesterday was premature. I wonder what they think today.

Maybe the Spurs will be energized at home. Maybe they’ll figure out the Hornets’ defense. Maybe they’ll find solutions for CP3’s freewheeling, D West’s consistent excellence from anywhere on the floor, Peja’s threes, and Tyson’s domination of the boards. Maybe.

I don’t know.

But it’s looking more and more like, Where “This Is Our Time” Happens.

There was a point during this season, I don’t remember when. We were watching the Hornets on CST, and we’d gone into the kitchen to get a few Abitas. I can’t recall which routine display of Chris Paul amazingness it was. But I remember that I turned to mW and asked, “So I haven’t been watching basketball very long, but… 10 years from now, when they’re talking about this season, are we going to be saying, ‘We saw that. We were there’? We are, aren’t we?”

“Short answer: yes,” he said.

It’s the funny thing about these superlative New Orleans nights. You know we’re so spoiled by Chris Paul that we’ll say, “Oh, CP had a crap night– 16 points and 11 assists.” And the irony is usually lost on us that most teams’ point guards would kill for Chris Paul’s crappy night. And it’s hard to realize, on a game by game basis, when you’re used to seeing it, that what you’re watching is the future unfolding. Sometimes you’ll get a glimpse, you’ll get those shivers. But it’s easy to forget that, this year at least, the revolution was not televised. It’s easy to forget that what we’ve felt in flashes, in glimpses? Most of America is just getting it for the first time.

But I’m going to tell you something else about CP3 that Hornets fans know.

Last spring Chris Paul, who is friends with LeBron James, sat courtside during the Cavs’ playoff run. And as he watched, he realized that anything less than this was not going to be good enough for him. And he’s brought that, from Day 1 of this season.

Have you watched Chris Paul? Have you watched his face?

You should. Because those are not the eyes of someone who’s content with taking things as a learning experience. Those are not the eyes of someone who’s thinking, “As long as we get into the playoffs and make a good showing in the first round, it’s a huge step of progress over last season.”

They’re the eyes of someone who’s been waiting for this his whole life.

If you believe one thing about Chris Paul, believe that.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am and is filed under CP3 Will Eat Your Soul, Playoffs 08. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.