Chris Paul and mastering the test of time
By Kaveh Jam
There was a sequence early in the Clippers home game last week against the San Antonio Spurs where LaMarcus Aldridge found himself on an island against Chris Paul. With antennae raised, Paul moved forward with a slight cross-over dribble – exposing the ball in his right hand for a split second – enough time for Aldridge to get his fingertips on the ball and temporarily knock it free.
In one motion, Paul gathered the ball and threaded a bounce pass through traffic to DeAndre Jordan, who had deserted a screen attempt to slip towards the rim. The resulting dunk and two points highlight the subtlety of Paul’s floor presence. Situations that appear to have him backpedalling coincide with moments of brilliant sorcery. It’s in this realm where his star has – and continues – to shine most.
The Clippers beat the Spurs that night on the heels of 28 points (9-18 FG), 12 assists, five rebounds, one steal and one block from Paul. It’s hardly surprising that the effort was largely glossed over. In a nutshell, the night was an accurate analogy of his entire season. He is leading, scoring, assisting, and defending in the same familiar ways that we have known, all while nearly single-handedly orchestrating the Clippers out of a miserable beginning to its season.
If lack of court-chemistry was not enough, Blake Griffin missed time first from a partially torn quad tendon, and then a broken hand as a result of punching the team’s assistant equipment manager. This gaping hole in lost production consequently pushed Paul into assuming a larger role in the offense, and he has thrived ever since. It is in this perspective where Paul’s true value is fully grasped.
In a strange way, all of it seems only vaguely relevant in a season where headlines are dominated by the Golden State Warriors. The fact other great players and teams coexist in the very same conference is lost in narrative, swept and tucked away in the minds of fans and viewers astounded by Golden State’s nightly display.
Further masking Paul’s terrific season is prolific, and borderline historic, play from the point guard position around the league. Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard all elicit impassioned reactions as they galvanize and modernize the position. But they differ in a distinct aesthetic from Paul’s controlled, yet effective floor game.
Paul is not physically imposing, nor very athletic – perhaps the only space in which he shares similarities with Curry. Diminutive in stature, bull-doggish in leadership and personality, Paul’s point guard approach is akin to a meticulous scientist – weaving through a defense with a formulaic demeanor.
He’s not a blur in the open floor but will out-quick defenses with a deceptive and cunning dribble, expertly cuffing the basketball to his chest when slithering through the paint. He won’t blitz an opponent from deep, but his 15-foot jumper is surgical. There are no gravity defying theatrics in his repertoire, though plenty of fearless forays to the basket.
Paul is keenly aware of his limitations and yet appears completely unfazed. He has mastered the game of space, and coordinates his offense as if he’s an air-traffic control officer. A two-man game with DeAndre Jordan at the top of the key yields an array of options. As the play unfolds, Paul’s brain flips through various stimulations while he manipulates his way to spots. And then a decisive act: a sharp cross-court pass that finds a spot-up shooter, a rainbow lob falling at the perfect angle, or a methodical step-back elbow jumper that can rock a defender to sleep.
“I don’t really do anything flashy. I’m not dunking on nobody or anything like that – I’ll probably hit you with a few mid-range jump shots,” Paul said after a 40-point destruction of the Phoenix Suns. “Other than that, I just go out and play and continue to do what I gotta do to help us win.”
In the midst of what is arguably his best year in a Clippers uniform – one of the best the franchise has ever had – everything Paul does falls unnoticed in the luminous shadows of a Curry three-pointer or a Westbrook dunk. His steady performance this season is surely wedged somewhere in between his highlight factory contemporaries.
Some of this is beginning to be familiar territory. Paul may be an aggressive and demonstrative force on the court, but he astutely realizes the value in consistency. It was not long ago when another gravity-defying point guard by the name of Derrick Rose catapulted himself to an MVP season in 2011. Roses’ gunning attack made Paul’s methodical play feel dwarfed and archaic.
Paul may be older, but very few aspects of his game have eroded. His tangible effect on a game is still as potent as it has ever been. It is subtle only in execution. He evokes a kinetic energy of determination – as if his mind is already convinced the goal he has set out to accomplish is mere formality. Trying to define him with a singular label is impractical. And despite a reputation as one of the game’s truly elite table setters, it would be shortsighted to encapsulate Paul only as facilitator.
More accurately, he is a master orchestrator of offenses who happens to have an unrelenting will. His ability to pick apart a defense with precision is art personified. That has not changed. He is still fiery by nature. And from that he can still grab a moment by the throat, and for a Clipper team that has shown vulnerability, Paul’s vintage modus operandi can single-handedly flip a game on its heels.