Chris Paul

New Orleans Hornets  – No. 3
Point guard
Born	May 6, 1985 (1985-05-06) (age 24) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
League	NBA
Salary	$13,758,000[1]
High school	West Forsyth
College	Wake Forest
Draft	4th overall, 2005 New Orleans Hornets
Pro career	2005–present
Awards	NBA Rookie of the Year (2006) 2× NBA All-Star (2008–2009) All-NBA First Team (2008) All-NBA Second Team (2009) NBA All-Defensive First Team (2009) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2008) All-Rookie First Team (2006)
Profile	Info Page

Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association. He serves as team captain of the franchise.

Paul was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Despite only playing two varsity basketball seasons in high school, he was a McDonald's All-American and accepted a scholarship with nearby Wake Forest University. After his sophomore year with the Demon Deacons, he declared for the draft. Since being selected 4th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft by New Orleans, Paul has been named a NBA Rookie of the Year Award (2006), an multiple All-Star, listed in both All-NBA and All-Defensive teams and led the Hornets to the second round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. He has also won an Olympic Gold Medal with the United States national basketball team.

Off the court, Paul is a notable ten-pin bowler and a sponsored spokesperson for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). He has participated in numerous celebrity and youth bowling events as the head of the CP3 Foundation to benefit programs in his native state and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Early years

Chris Paul was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the second son of Charles Edward Paul and Robin Jones after Charles "C.J." Paul. Growing up, Paul and C.J. took summer to work at their grandfather's gas station.

High school

Paul played at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina, where he was a 2003 McDonald's All-American and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball for 2003 by The Charlotte Observer. Paul averaged 30.8 points, 9.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.0 steals per game as a senior in leading his team to a 27–3 record and the Class 4A Eastern Regional finals. That same year, at the beginning of the season, Paul scored 61 points in honor of his grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, who, only days before, had been beaten to death in his own driveway during a robbery. Paul scored one point for every year his grandfather lived. When Paul reached the 61-point mark, he intentionally missed a free throw, then took himself out of the game even though the state high school scoring record of 66 points was well within reach.

Summer Circuit

Though he did not win a state championship while in high school, Paul did take the Winston-Salem-based Kappa Magic (alongside future University of North Carolina rival Reyshawn Terry), to the 2002 National U-17 AAU Championship over an All-Ohio team led by 2003 McDonald's All-American Drew Lavender, taking home the tournament's MVP award in the process.^[2]

College career

Paul attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He played there for two years leading the Demon Deacons to two NCAA Tournaments, and one Sweet Sixteen appearance. In his freshman year he was named the ACC Rookie of the Year, and National Freshman of the Year by several publications. Paul also earned ACC All-Defensive Team honors during his time at Wake and was among the Consensus First Team All-Americans in his sophomore year. By the time he declared for the 2005 NBA Draft as a sophomore, he had finished near the top of almost every offensive category at Wake Forest.

NBA career

2005–06 season

Paul was selected fourth overall by the New Orleans Hornets in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft. Due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina that summer to the city of New Orleans, Paul did not play his first full season in New Orleans. Instead, the team played in various arenas and relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Hornets only played three games in New Orleans Arena.

Paul led all rookies in points, assists, steals, and minutes, earning him the 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Paul was a near-unanimous winner for the award, but one voter (Ron Boone, television analyst for the Utah Jazz) gave Deron Williams his vote instead of Paul. This, along with the fact that both were taken back to back in the draft and play the same position, has led to an on-court rivalry between Paul and Williams.^[3] Their rivalry began on December 1, 2004 when Paul led his No. 1-ranked Wake Forest into Champaign to face Williams' Illini. Illinois thrashed the Demon Deacons 91–73 and took the top spot from there into their run to the 2005 NCAA Championship Game. Williams had 8 points and 11 assists while Paul was held to 10 points.

Paul finished the 2005–06 season averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds. He was also the only unanimous selection to the 2005–06 NBA All Rookie First Team and was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month every month in the 2005–06 season. After the season, Paul won the ESPY Award for Best Breakthrough Athlete. He recorded his first triple-double on April 2, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.

2006–07 season

Still playing in Oklahoma City, Paul followed up his impressive rookie campaign with a solid sophomore season. He improved his scoring average to 17.3 points, and improved his assists average with 8.9 per game. He averaged 4.4 rebounds per game. Paul's season was riddled with injuries though, as he was limited to playing in only 64 games.

Paul was not named an All-Star in 2007, but he was named to replace Steve Nash in the 2007 Playstation Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend. He played in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and dished out 17 assists and had 9 steals, both T-Mobile Rookie Challenge records. When interviewed during the Rookie Challenge, Paul vowed that he would be an All-Star next season, as the All-Star Game would be held in New Orleans.

2007–08 season

Paul in a game against Boston

The 2007–08 season brought the full return of the Hornets to the city of New Orleans. Emerging as a true superstar, Paul averaged 21.1 points and 4 rebounds^[4], and led the NBA in steals with 2.71 per game and assists with 11.6 per game.^[5] He was selected by NBA coaches to play in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game which was hosted by the city of New Orleans, thereby fulfilling his vow from the previous season. Paul's teammate David West was named as an All-Star reserve and Hornets coach Byron Scott coached the Western Conference All-Stars. During All-Star Weekend, Paul participated again in the 2008 All-Star Playstation Skills Challenge winning the first round but losing in the final round to Deron Williams. Paul sparked a 4th quarter comeback for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game, but the East held on to win 134–128. He finished the game with 16 points, 14 assists and 5 steals.

Paul continued his stellar play following the All Star game, leading the New Orleans Hornets to one of the best records in the West. After a 37 point, 13 assist, and 3 steal performance by Paul against the Chicago Bulls on March 17, 2008, Paul led a 4th quarter comeback win^[6], the Hornets ascended to the top of the standings in the Western Conference. On April 4, 2008, Chris Paul helped the Hornets clinch a playoff spot for the first time since the 2003–04 season. The Hornets ultimately finished the season with a 56–26 record, the best record in team history, and finished #2 overall in the NBA Western Conference standings. Paul ended the season leading the NBA with 11.6 assists and 2.71 steals per game^[5], and registered a steal in all 80 games he played in.

In Paul's first NBA playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks, he scored 35 points, with 24 coming in the second half^[7], along with 10 assists and 4 steals.^[8] In Game 2, he scored 32 points and set a franchise playoff-record 17 assists, leading the Hornets to a 127–103 victory to go 2–0 against Dallas.^[9] After splitting Games 3 and 4 in Dallas, the Hornets eliminated the Mavericks, 4–1, in Game 5 for their first ever playoff series victory behind a 24 point, 11 rebound, and 15 assist performance from Paul.^[10]

He finished second in MVP voting, behind Kobe Bryant, who beat him with a margin of 306 votes.^[11] He was selected for the All-NBA First Team, 3 votes shy of a unanimous choice.

Paul has reportedly reached an agreement on a three-year extension with the Hornets with a player option with a fourth year, with a total value of $68 million.^[12]

2008–09 Season

For the second season in a row Paul finished the season as the league leader in assists and steals. He also scored a career best 22.8 points per game on a career best percentage of 50.3%. Paul participated in his second NBA All Star Game starting for the Western Conference All Stars. On December 17, 2008, against the San Antonio Spurs, Paul broke Alvin Robertson's 22-year-old NBA record by registering at least one steal in 106 consecutive games.^[13] The new record reached 108 consecutive games before ending on Christmas Day against the Orlando Magic.

After the season, Paul was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team first team, and the All-NBA second team. He was also fifth in the 2009 MVP voting, receiving two first place votes and a total of 192 points.^[14]

International

Medal record
Competitor for  United States
Olympics
Gold	2008 Beijing	National team
World Championships
Bronze	2006 Japan	National team

Paul, (second from right), helped lead the Redeem Team to the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Paul has earned 10 caps for various junior national teams. He made his debut for the senior United States national basketball team on August 4, 2006 in a friendly against Puerto Rico. Paul made the final cut and remained on the Team USA roster for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Team USA finished with an 8–1 record and defeated 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Argentina for a third-place finish. Paul set a Team USA World Championship total assist record with 44 assists, to go along with only 9 turnovers.

He participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the USA went unbeaten en route to the gold medal, defeating 2006 world champion Spain.^[15] Playing as back up to starter Jason Kidd, the "Redeem team" captured gold for the first time since the 2000 Olympics.

Awards and honors

Paul playing at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

• NBA All-Star: 2008, 2009
• All-NBA Team:

• First Team: 2008
• Second Team: 2009

• NBA All-Defensive Team:

• First Team: 2009
• Second Team: 2008

• NBA Rookie of the Year: 2006
• NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2006
• Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship
• Notched second place on ESPN's greatest player of the 2007–2008 regular season :
• Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games
• 108 consecutive games with at least one steal, most in NBA history 12-23-2008

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

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Paul is an official member of the Nike Team Jordan brand. He was one of only three athletes (Derek Jeter and Carmelo Anthony being the others) to have had his own shoe made with the brand.^[16]

Paul was the cover athlete for the video game NBA 2K8.^[17]

Paul and New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush are close friends and live in the same complex in the Central Business District of New Orleans. They also share a personal chef.^[18]

Chris Paul and LeBron James, are best-friends. Paul stated that "He's like my brother" ^[19]

Chris Paul and Utah Jazz Point guard Deron Williams, are close friends.

During the second season of ESPN's It's the Shoes, Paul revealed to Bobbito Garcia that the "CP3" nickname comes from family tradition & the combination of his initials & jersey number is strictly a coincidence. His father (Charles Paul) and older brother (C.J. Paul) are nicknamed CP1 and CP2, respectively. Paul also notes that all three men's initials are CEP."^[20]

Whenever Chris scores during a Hornets home game the PA Announcer will simply say "CP3!" and then play a sound byte of legendary pro wrestler Ric Flair's famous "Wooooo!" quote. Flair, who is an avid Hornets fan and whose loyalty stuck with the team even after they relocated from his hometown Charlotte to New Orleans, attended every Hornets home game in their 2008 Western Conference Semi-Final Series against the San Antonio Spurs & introduced the starting lineups at a home game against the Golden State Warriors.^[21]

Chris Paul is mentioned in the song, My Life by rapper The Game, in which The Game says he's, "got a Chris Paul mind of state, I'm never out of bounds." Chris Paul is also mentioned in the song, MVP by rapper Ludacris where Ludacris says "I'm on point like CP3." Chris Paul is also mentioned in the song Dedication 3 on Lil Wayne's Dedication 3 mixtape saying "Young Money nigga We Ball, Like Kobe or Chris Paul" He is also mentioned on the Lil' Wayne and The Game's track entitled "Red Magic" when The Game says "Yea Im in L.A. Gasolin', but when I'm in New Orleans you can call it Chris Paul'n"

In 2008, Paul appeared on the NPR news quiz show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!," where he went three-for-three in the "Not My Job" game.

Chris Paul was named the best point guard in the NBA by Gary Payton.^[22]

Notes

External links

• Chris Paul Info Page at NBA.com

• Chris Paul Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• ChrisPaul3.com - The Official Website of Chris Paul
• The Official MySpace of Chris Paul
• Chris Paul fan forum
• Chris Paul NBADraft.net profile
• IGN.com: Chris Paul interview
• "Chris Paul", n°18 on Time's list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"