![]() I know what cruel is, so it's just basketball," Williams said, alluding to a car accident that killed his wife, Ingrid, in 2016. "I'm probably not the guy to talk to about cruel stuff. That was after a hamstring injury derailed Paul and the LA Clippersin 2015, and a hand fracture in 2016, then a foot fracture to his Clippers co-star Blake Griffin in 2017. In the 2018 Western Conference finals, Paul pulled a hamstring just as the Houston Rockets had the Golden State Warriors on the ropes. But this is a bad movie Paul has lived too many times throughout his Hall of Fame career. Time is running out for Paul and the Suns to heal and regain the swagger they brought with them into the playoffs. You gotta overcome it and get through it." "I know I do everything on a daily basis to prepare myself to be ready to play. "It is what it is: You control what you can control," Paul said. If Paul hits that mark, he will have also surpassed Scottie Pippen (9th) and Steve Nash (8th) on the way.The defending champion Lakers were always going to be a betting favorite against the second-seeded Suns, despite their seventh seed and myriad questions about their health, chemistry and consistency.īut the story of this series thus far has been Paul's shoulder injury, not the Lakers regaining their championship form. ![]() ![]() 10 on the list, and he’s 38 assists behind Larry Bird at No. Paul needs to serve up just 16 more assists to move past Bryant for No. Paul started off the playoffs ranked 19th all-time in postseason assists, and he’s moved past Mark Jackson, Maurice Cheeks, Kevin Johnson, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Isiah Thomas, Dennis Johnson and Michael Jordan to take over the No. So, we’re guaranteed to finally see a new NBA Finals MVP. Over the last 12 years, just four different players - LeBron James (4 NBA Finals MVPs), Kawhi Leonard (2), Kevin Durant (2) and Kobe Bryant (2) - accounted for 10 NBA Finals MVP awards, while Dirk Nowitzki and Andre Iguodala took home the other two. Paul appears to be the early favorite in this wide-open field, which also features a two-time Kia MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but no former NBA champions, let alone former NBA Finals MVPs. Milwaukee may need to adjust its defense in order to contain Chris Paul. Only Kevin Willis appeared in more games (1,428) before making his finals debut. Interestingly, Paul makes his first NBA Finals appearance in the 1,214th game of his career. Paul finished fifth in the voting for the 2020-21 Kia NBA MVP Award, but he should fare much better in the chase for this piece of hardware. That’s right, we’re bringing the Kia Race to the MVP Ladder to the NBA Finals, and we’ll update it after every game of this series, which tips off on Tuesday at Phoenix Suns Arena (9 ET, ABC). If you don’t, just check the game tapes in what’s been a masterful postseason for Paul that vaults him atop the leaderboard for our first edition of the Race to NBA Finals MVP Ladder. At the end of the day, you know somebody’s heart.” “Everybody doesn’t have to be the same, and I’ve learned that over the years. “What you learn, is that in order to make a team go, it’s OK to approach things differently,” he said. Chris Paul has surged up the NBA’s all-time postseason assists list during the 2021 playoffs.Īrms crossed, thinking retrospectively about a career spanning 16 seasons, five teams and copious postseason calamity, Chris Paul shared what he’s learned about leadership playing for the Phoenix Suns.
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