[Guide] News on April 22, Before you know it, Chris Paul will also be 30 years old.
To be precise, by May 6th, he will pass the new year.
If he wants to spend his 30th birthday on the court, he must pass the first round and must step over the body of the defending champion.
Paul just needs a championship
The age of 30 is a hurdle, especially for professional sports. At this age, a star player has already passed half of his career. It is basically possible to see what kind of achievements and heights he can achieve.
For example, Michael Jordan, he won his first three consecutive championships at the age of 30, which laid the foundation for his status as the first person in history;
“President Hill” is still promising.
Paul was not so lucky.
He was selected to the All-Star 8 times in the first 10 seasons of his career. He averaged double figures in assists per game in 5 years.
The history of the top 10 point guards, the competition for the top 5 or even the top 3 is not completely without chance.
But when it comes to team achievements, Paul inevitably lacks confidence. In the first 9 years of his career, his team never made it to the division finals. The two Olympic gold medals are indeed dazzling, but for NBA stars, the glory of the national team is just icing on the cake.
In this year’s playoffs, many reporters asked Paul about this point: “Will the lack of success in the playoffs affect your historical status?” Facing such a question, Paul looked calm, “Only when you ask this, I
I think about it. On the court, I just think about how I should play, how I should attack, pass the ball. We are players, what we have to do is to win as many games as possible. I don’t need anything to motivate
Me, whether you say I’m the best or the worst, I’m just going to play, it’s as simple as that.”
But many things are not as simple as they say.
With Paul’s ability and character, it is impossible for him not to take the championship as his own responsibility.
Earlier this season, he made this statement: “All I want is a championship. You can take other things away, I don’t care. You can take away my assists or steals, no problem,
All I need is a champion.”
Does this kind of confession sound familiar?
Indeed, Garnett said something similar when he joined the Celtics in 2007.
In Doug Rivers’ view, Garnett and Paul, two superstars who look completely different, have very similar personality traits, “They are both the kind of people who regard basketball as their life, and they are very
Tough, just in a different way. KG is more outgoing, he makes everyone feel his strength, Chris is the opposite, he has an inner fire in his chest, which is also amazing to me.”
Sometimes it’s really hard to understand why players like Garnett and Paul, who are so tough and selfless, didn’t achieve team success earlier?
The only reasonable explanation is that the overall strength of the Western Conference is too strong, and Garnett did not win the championship until he transferred to the Eastern Conference.
At that time, the Wolf King was already 32 years old.
Paul still has time to prove his ability to lead the team independently. He is still young, and he doesn’t have to flee the West like Garnett.
But the time left for him is no longer abundant.
In 2008, at the age of 22, he faced the Spurs for the first time in the playoffs. Paul’s Hornets were only one win away from the Western Conference Finals.
.
At that time, many people said that the next era is likely to belong to Paul, he will be a frequent visitor to the Western Conference Finals, and he will win more than one most valuable player, but after so many years, these predictions have not come true.
Seven years later, the Spurs stood in front of them again. In the first match between the two teams, the Clippers were tough and crazy.
Paul needed this madness, because without it he would be really old.