Former Clippers teammates JJ Redick and Chris Paul got together behind microphones for an interesting interview. And the neo-retiree surprised his former comrade by asking him directly if the latter was physically able to shoot in the first round of the last playoffs, against the Lakers.
Because if Phoenix had qualified (4-2), the leader had suffered. Touched on the shoulder, he was clearly out of order in shooting (39% skill on the series including 20% at 3-pointers) and he even had trouble dribbling…
“I had some pretty crazy injuries but this was one of the craziest. Because dribbling is my thing. But there, I was dribbling and the ball did not return to my hand., explains Chris Paul. Was it a lack of strength? ” Yes. It was crazy. I was dribbling and I was like, ‘Damn, why am I losing the ball?’ There’s a shot I put throwing it from the right side. It came back but I said to the guys: ‘I don’t know how I did it’. “
The 36-year-old explains that despite the work of his physical trainers, the problem did not go away.
“In Game 2, I don’t even know why they were defending on me. I couldn’t shoot at all, I was just pretending. “ Did the Lakers realize that? ” I do not know. But if you look, from match to match, you could see that they were hesitating. They would double-take and then they were like, ‘Do I really have to challenge his shot?’ I couldn’t shoot at all. I couldn’t even lift my arm. If they lifted my arm and pushed it down, I couldn’t put up any resistance. My arm was falling. “
Monty Williams didn’t want him to play Game 4
Its very limited leader, Phoenix also found himself led 1-2 before Game 4 in Los Angeles.
“I got to the venue and Monty (Williams) called me into his office and said I wasn’t going to play. He told me that I couldn’t do anything, put anything in place. That’s what was starting to stress me out too. I didn’t want to be absent, because I would have felt like I was letting my team down. But deep inside me, I also had the feeling that I was putting the team down. And I didn’t know if the guys on the team were going to dare say to me: ‘Chris, you’re driving us to hell’. I had kind of forgotten all that, but it was hard”.
Chris Paul says he convinced his coach by calling a neurologist, who said he couldn’t aggravate his injury. In the process, the leader had his best game of this first round with 18 points at 7/15 shooting, plus 9 assists, and especially Phoenix recovered the advantage of the field (100-92).
While the leader has gradually recovered, rising to power during this 2021 playoff campaign, JJ Redick rightly recalls that this tempers the criticism of those who say that the Suns and the Bucks managed to reach the Finals by taking advantage of injuries other teams like the Nuggets, the Clippers or the Nets…
“That’s what Doc (Rivers) always said. He told us: ‘Guys, you have to be good, but sometimes you also have to be lucky’. So I’m ready to get lucky.”concludes the leader, who has not been spared from physical problems during the playoffs, throughout his career.
| Chris Paul | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2005-06 | NOP | 78 | 36 | 43.0 | 28.2 | 84.7 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 16.1 |
| 2006-07 | NOP | 64 | 37 | 43.7 | 35.0 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 17.3 |
| 2007-08 | NOP | 80 | 38 | 48.8 | 36.9 | 85.1 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 11.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 21.1 |
| 2008-09 | NOP | 78 | 39 | 50.3 | 36.4 | 86.8 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 0.1 | 22.8 |
| 2009-10 | NOP | 45 | 38 | 49.3 | 40.9 | 84.7 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 10.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 18.7 |
| 2010-11 | NOP | 80 | 36 | 46.3 | 38.8 | 87.8 | 0.5 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 9.8 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 15.9 |
| 2011-12 | LAKE | 60 | 36 | 47.8 | 37.1 | 86.1 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 9.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.1 | 19.8 |
| 2012-13 | LAKE | 70 | 33 | 48.1 | 32.8 | 88.5 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 9.7 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 16.9 |
| 2013-14 | LAKE | 62 | 35 | 46.7 | 36.8 | 85.5 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 19.1 |
| 2014-15 | LAKE | 82 | 35 | 48.5 | 39.8 | 90.0 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 10.2 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 19.1 |
| 2015-16 | LAKE | 74 | 33 | 46.2 | 37.1 | 89.6 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 10.0 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 19.5 |
| 2016-17 | LAKE | 61 | 32 | 47.6 | 41.1 | 89.2 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 9.2 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 18.1 |
| 2017-18 | HOO | 58 | 32 | 46.0 | 38.0 | 91.9 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 7.9 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 18.6 |
| 2018-19 | HOO | 58 | 32 | 41.9 | 35.8 | 86.2 | 0.6 | 4.0 | 4.6 | 8.2 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 15.6 |
| 2019-20 | OKAY | 70 | 32 | 48.9 | 36.5 | 90.7 | 0.4 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 6.7 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 17.6 |
| 2020-21 | PHX | 70 | 31 | 49.9 | 39.5 | 93.4 | 0.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 16.4 |
| 2021-22 | PHX | 50 | 33 | 48.9 | 34.4 | 83.6 | 0.3 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 10.4 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 14.9 |
| Total | 1140 | 35 | 47.3 | 37.0 | 87.2 | 0.6 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 9.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 18.2 | |
