Few players have has as positive an impact on the Phoenix Suns organization this century than Chris Paul. The "Point God" acting as the missing piece that helped turn the franchise from bottom feeder in the Western Conference, to 2021 NBA finalists.
It was with heavy heart that a lot of fans watch Paul get traded for Bradley Beal last summer, in a move that still might not be the right decision for the Suns in hindsight. Paul is now with the Golden State Warriors, although the injury problems that showed up at irritating times when with the Suns have continued in San Francisco.
Not that the 38-year-old is put off by this, and in fact Paul is still convinced that he is going to win an NBA Championship before he retires.
Paul was recently a guest on The Why podcast with Dwyane Wade, in what was an entertaining conversation between the two. The topic of Paul joining LeBron James in South Beach back in 2010 came up, with the number three jersey that belonged to Wade apparently being one of the stumbling blocks in getting the trio of friends together.
CP3 almost joined Heatles but him and Wade both wanted to wear #3
— Emo Jimmy (@WheelerJaylen) February 28, 2024
“We talked for a while, what the team would look like, we were getting excited”
“Riley didn’t pull the trigger because CP wasn’t wearing number 3 in Miami”
“I was almost in Miami, whole trade over jersey #” 😳 pic.twitter.com/bbarJFFNYy
When attentions turned to the fact Paul - one of the most competitive players in the league still to this day - had yet to win a championship, his response was one you would expect from a serial winner and a guy who wants to get to the top of the mountain badly. When asked by Wade if his career would be complete without a championship, Paul had the following to say in response;
"Straight up – even though I think I’m gonna win a championship before I’m done – yes, absolutely. I can’t even process not winning a championship right now. That’s literally how I’m built. But I love what I’ve been able to do with my career. And I was probably a lot more stressed about that once upon a time."Chris Paul
There is a short list of players in the league today who Suns fans would be happy to see win a championship. The idea of them getting one before the Suns themselves in even shorter, and yet for a lot of people Paul would make that list. Nobody in The Valley could begrudge him the chance to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy above his head.
That didn't look likely as recently as four weeks ago, with Paul injured and the Warriors going nowhere in the Western Conference. But with Stephen Curry as fantastic as ever, Paul back from injury and leading the second unit and Klay Thompson happy to come off the bench, the Warriors have figured a lot out in a short amount of time.
They've won three straight, eight of their last 10 and are 32-27, which has teams like the Suns suddenly looking over their shoulders. It would still be an incredible turnaround for the Warriors to go all the way this season, and yet they seemingly came out of nowhere only two seasons ago to do exactly the same thing. Do they have the talent and the legs to do it one more time?
Even if the Warriors do come up short as most predict they will, Paul will still have other chances to win a ring. He seems to have no problem coming off the bench and having a much diminished role on whatever team he is a part of. If he picks his next spot wisely, he could yet have the trophy in his arms once before calling it a career -- and what a career it has been which included revitalizing the Suns.