Once upon a time, Chris Paul was seen as a top-five NBA point guard by his teammate, Deron Williams. Williams is retired and admits to being a little jealous of Paul, who is still playing at a high level.
Williams and Paul were both selected in the 2005 NBA draft and immediately made their presence felt in the league. Williams' run of great play was short-lived compared to the run of play by the other team. In the four years that he averaged a double-double in points and assists, he averaged a double-double every season. Injuries began to catch up with him and his playing time began to dwindle.
On the other hand, Paul? He has had injuries in his career, but his level of play has never waned. It just feels like Paul has been a top point guard since day one in the NBA. While he is 36 years old, he has never averaged less than 14.2ppg, and that is happening this season. Paul averaged 16 points and 8 assists a game. Paul has averaged a double-double in points and assists six times in his career, and he is already there again this season. He averaged at least nine assists per game in four other seasons.
Williams marvels at the Hall of Fame-level consistency when watching Paul ball. There isn't much negative to say about Paul's game. There is only one thing missing from Paul's HOF resume. He was in the NBA Finals a few months ago, but lost in six games to the Milwaukee Bucks. Paul seems to be in the best place to continue adding to his hoop's legacy and the right squad around him to potentially run it back this year.
Williams is preparing for his upcoming celebrity boxing match against Frank Gore. Williams and Paul have become friends since Williams retired. Paul was one of the first people to contact Deron after the fight was announced, and he was supportive of Williams in his combat sport pursuit.
Hopefully, Williams does well in his debut, and as for Paul, his sights are set on leading the Phoenix Suns back to the NBA Finals. The Suns have as good a chance of making another deep postseason run as any other team in the association, even though the road may be more difficult than first thought.
