J.J. Redick thinks teammate Chris Paul could be best ever

Feb 9, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) talks to forward Matt Barnes (22) guard J.J. Redick (4) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) after a timeout against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) talks to forward Matt Barnes (22) guard J.J. Redick (4) and center DeAndre Jordan (6) after a timeout against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /
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J.J. Redick told SiriusXM NBA Radio that he believes teammate Chris Paul could go down as the best point guard ever. 

There’s a long tradition of teammates and coaches using hyperbole when speaking of those they play with or coach. It is understandable in many ways. They have the opportunity to spend day in and day out with that player and can compare it to other players they have been around in their career.

Nine-year veteran J.J. Redick–who has spent the last (almost) two years in Los Angeles with Chris Paul–kept in line with that tradition when speaking with SiriusXM NBA Radio on Friday.

To Redick’s point, Paul has never reached a conference finals, much less an NBA Finals. Paul of course played the first six seasons of his NBA career with the New Orleans Hornets franchise after being selected fourth overall after a two-year All-American career at Wake Forest.

With New Orleans, Paul led his team to a 3-1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2008 Western Conference Semis. The Spurs came back to win that series. Paul and the Clippers have once reached the semis in his first three postseasons with Los Angeles.

Paul has led the NBA in assists four times (though one of those seasons is this one) and averages 9.9 assists per game for his career. Six times he’s led the league in steals per game, and newly available SportVu data which tracks a player’s defense impact shows Paul is the best perimeter guard in the league.

But to be the best point guard to ever play the game is a different question. Whether it is easy to agree upon, there is some benefit in that conversation to look at championships.

To that end, Ervin “Magic” Johnson and Isaiah Thomas are well ahead of Paul, as each won multiple NBA titles. But based on a host of different evaluative tools Paul may be the third best point guard ever.

Still, even if Paul wins the next three NBA titles with Doc Rivers, Blake Griffin and (most likely) DeAndre Jordan, it would be a difficult argument to make to put Paul ahead of Magic at least.

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