Chris Paul's Endgame

Down 2-1 in the West Semi the Rockets once again took advantage of the Warriors poor shooting, the disappearance of Klay Thompson, dominance on the boards, and older players starting to show their age (Iggy and Livingston). It was the Rockets best game of the series led by Harden’s best performance as well. And yet with that, they just barely got away with the win. How many times can you count on KD and Steph miss back-to-back open game-tying threes? The Warriors and Rockets played Game 4 last night and there is one question that had been repeating in my mind before the game and still after the game…what will Chris Paul’s legacy be?

I’m not here to talk about how unfortunate CP3’s career has been (we know about that), how he’s made only one conference finals, but to simply put his career in perspective. There are certain guys in NBA history who have had great careers lost at their fingertips. Karl Malone to me is one of those guys but he won an MVP, is 2nd on the all-time scoring list, and at least made the Finals.

CP3, unlike Malone didn’t have the luxury of playing his entire career with another HOF player and that’s fine. We won’t hold that against him. Paul is currently 9th all-time on the steals list and 7th in assists, he’s 3rd all-time in career APG at 9.66 only behind Magic Johnson and John Stockton of course. He is a 9-time NBA All-Star (1 All-Star MVP), 4-time All-NBA 1st Team, 3-time 2nd Team, and one 3rd Team. Paul is also a 7-time NBA All-Defensive Team member, 2-time 2nd All-defensive Team, rookie of the year in 2006, and has led the league 4 times in APG and 6 times in SPG. With all that said we are talking about a player who is a lock for the HOF, yet he won’t be remembered as great as he should be.

In my opinion, the top 5 guard list goes as follows: Magic, Stockton, Isiah, Oscar, CP3. You could make the argument that Curry very soon (or even now, depending on who you are) could replace Paul in that 5th spot for many valid reasons, and I wouldn’t be mad (I hear someone saying I don’t know anything about basketball…).

What I feared last night was that the Warriors would take a 3-1 lead on the Rockets, thus wrapping up the Rockets title window along with Paul’s career. Last season, in Paul’s first Conference Finals appearance he played well before that recurring hamstring injury took him out of the final two games. That’s been his career, hasn’t it? In the most important games of his career, injuries suffered by him or his teammates ultimately put an end to a great CP3 season. Think about what has ruined Paul’s career…it’s been injuries, David Stern (2011), refs (2014), Josh Smith (2015), and that hammy (a regular). As I mentioned earlier, you could replace Paul with Curry in my top 5 list, and that is what I believe would start the vanishing of Chris Paul’s career—Ala the dusted Avengers.

Chris Paul runs the risk of being of one those forgotten all-time greats, like a George Gervin, a Elgin Baylor, an Alex English (not to us anyway…well at least not me, and I wasn’t alive to see them!), etc.

Last night could’ve very well been the burial of Paul’s career. I don’t think it’s too soon to say that. Honestly, you could say that took place last season, but we’re here now and Chris Paul needs to beat this Warriors team (more vulnerable than seasons past) to continue a hopeful playoff-run to his first Finals. I’m not so confident it’ll work in Paul’s favor. Not for lack of talent, but because it seems like the universe’s proven destiny for Paul to continue to fail (again, not all his fault). The last two seasons have shown us a few things. Number 1, this has been the best offensive system Paul has been a part of. Number 2, number 1 doesn’t matter, because they would have to face the Big 4 Warriors down the road. Yes, I do believe the Rockets are the best team put together right now to defeat the Warriors, but at what cost? Another CP3 injury? It seems bound to happen (knocking on wood here). I’ve repeatedly said Paul shouldn’t be playing all these playoff minutes, it’s ridiculous. There’s a reason the Spurs enjoyed a two-decade successful run…Pop knew how to manage his players for what really mattered.

What I’m trying to get at is…that Chris Paul to the generation after us will be an underrated player in NBA history. None of it being his fault, except maybe that turnover in the Clips-OKC series in 2014—maybe. Look at how we think of Isiah Thomas. Many people still don’t give him the credit he deserves, and he won back-to-back titles on memorable teams. Imagine Paul now, with no titles, memorable teams for the wrong reasons…does Chris Paul disappear into the black-hole of NBA stars? 

The Rockets will have to win Game 5 on the road at Oracle to come back to their home floor to put an end to the Warriors dynasty. Otherwise, if they lose Game 5, they'll will be coming back home hoping to force a Game 7, which then they would have to play the game of their lives to beat Golden State on their floor in a Game 7. The last time the Warriors lost a Game 7 on their floor was of course back in the 2016 NBA Finals which required a supernatural block by LeBron (also the 3rd triple-double in a Game 7 in NBA history), and a dagger 3-pointer from Kyrie Irving all under 2 minutes of playing time to ultimately pull it off. That game had the greatest block in NBA history, the greatest shot in NBA history, the greatest comeback in NBA history, and was the greatest Game 7 in NBA history.

Geez.

I'm not confident this Rockets team has the same will-power those 2016 Cavs did. I see Steph having an amazing Game 5 performance, and KD with an all-time Game 6 close-out game. Looking forward to seeing how this series changes anyone’s perspective on Paul’s career, and where he ranks all-time among point guards. I just worry for how his career will drastically change over the weekend. I believe this is Houston's last chance with this squad. Father-time and the NBA black-hole are both currently facing CP3 in the face and telling him, "I...am inevitable." 

We are indeed in the endgame now.