Chris Paul

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Chris Paul

Position	Point guard
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	188 lb (85.3 kg)
League	NBA
Team	New Orleans Hornets
Jersey	#3
Born	May 6, 1985 (1985-05-06) (age 23) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nationality	African American
High school	West Forsyth
College	Wake Forest
Draft	4th overall, 2005 New Orleans Hornets
Pro career	2005–present
Awards	2008 NBA All-Star 2008 All-NBA First Team 2008 NBA All-Defensive Team 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year 2006 NBA All-Rookie Team
Official profile	Info Page

Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays point guard for the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA. He won the 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and won the Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics with the United States national basketball team.

[edit] 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. While in a game during high school, Paul scored 61 points in honor of his grandfather who, only days before, was beaten to death in his own carport 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 let his coach take him out of the game even though the state high school scoring record of 69 points was well within reach. Though he did not win a state championship while in high school, while playing for Winston-Salem-based Kappa Magic alongside future University of North Carolina rival Reyshawn Terry) Paul did win 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.^[1]

[edit] College

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 a Consensus First Team All-American. Chris had also received the ACC Rookie of the Year as well as ACC All-Defensive Team honors during his play at Wake Forest. He left Wake Forest with records near the top of nearly every offensive category.

[edit] NBA career

[edit] 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, Paul did not play his first full season in New Orleans. Instead, the team relocated to Oklahoma City for the season with the Hornets playing just three games at the 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.^[2] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 2007–08 season

The 2007-08 season brought the full return of the Hornets to the city of New Orleans. Paul averaged 21.1 points and 4 rebounds^[3], and led the NBA in steals with 2.71 per game and assists with 11.6 per game.^[4] 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 17th, 2008, Paul led a 4th quarter comeback win^[5], 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^[4], and registered a steal in all 80 games he played in.^[3]

In Paul's first NBA playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks, he scored 35 points, with 24 coming in the second half^[6], along with 10 assists and 4 steals.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

He finished second in MVP voting, behind Kobe Bryant, who beat him with a margin of 306 votes.^[10] 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.^[11]

[edit] International

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

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.^[12] Playing as back up to starter Jason Kidd, the "Redeem team" captured gold for the first time since the 2000 Olympics.

[edit] Awards and honors

• NBA All-Star: 2008
• All-NBA Team:

• First Team: 2008

• NBA All-Defensive Team:

• 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

[edit] NBA career statistics

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] Personal life

Paul is also an avid ten-pin bowler, and was contracted in 2007 by the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) to be an official youth bowling spokesperson.^[13] On September 20, 2008, Chris and four other NBA stars were paired with five PBA professional bowlers in an unprecedented bowling event: The Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational presented by the brands of Ebonite International. ESPN taped the contest, which took place in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as part of the annual Chris Paul's Winston Salem Weekend, for an October 19th broadcast. The event benefits programs in the Winston-Salem and New Orleans areas through Chris' CP3 Foundation.^[14]

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.^[15]

Paul was the cover athlete for the video game NBA 2K8.^[16]

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.^[17]

During the second season of ESPN's It's the Shoes, Paul revealed to Bobbito Garcia that the "CP3" nickname comes from 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."^[18]

Whenever Chris scores during an 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 a avid Hornets fan and whose loyalty stuck with the team even after they relocated to 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 & introduce the starting lineups at a home game against the Golden State Warriors.^[19]

Chris Paul and the CP3 Foundation are very active in the communities of Winston-Salem and New Orleans. Some of the many charities that the Foundation has supported include Feed the Children, Special Olympics of North Carolina, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Meals On Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Wake Forest University, and The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club along with countless other organizations.

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."

[edit] Notes

[edit] 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"

v • d • e 2008 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball – United States 4 Carlos Boozer | 5 Jason Kidd | 6 LeBron James | 7 Deron Williams | 8 Michael Redd | 9 Dwyane Wade | 10 Kobe Bryant | 11 Dwight Howard | 12 Chris Bosh | 13 Chris Paul | 14 Tayshaun Prince | 15 Carmelo Anthony Coach: Mike Krzyzewski | Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim | Assistant Coach: Mike D'Antoni | Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan

v • d • e United States squad - 2006 FIBA World Championship - Bronze medal 4 Johnson | 5 Hinrich | 6 James | 7 Jamison | 8 Battier | 9 Wade | 10 Paul | 11 Bosh | 12 Howard | 13 Miller | 14 Brand | 15 Anthony | Coach: Krzyzewski