At 36 years old and in his 16th NBA season, Chris Paul is looking to make his first trip to the NBA Finals. To get there, the Point God faces a test taken straight from a chapter of Greek Mythology.

The basketball gods are magnificent and cruel.

When I say “basketball gods”, you likely know who I’m talking about.  It’s that hint of divine intervention.  That moment within a game or season when the outcome seemingly leaves the hands of the players and is tossed up to fate itself.

The basketball gods giveth, the basketball gods taketh away.

One of the reasons that I love the NBA is that the league is one continuous story that spans across decades.  

I’m a sucker for a good story.

Since the beginning, the NBA has been filled with heroes and villains, main characters and side characters, quests that must be fulfilled, and choices that must be made.  There are triumphs and failures, comedies and tragedies. There are hundreds of miniature stories packed into an overarching Basketball Mythology. 

Ever-present in each story, are the basketball gods:  the invisible force that seems to orchestrate the most minute detail into an unimaginable climax. For example, think of the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. A battle that spans an entire decade, beginning in college and culminating into a moment that is frozen in time to this day.

The basketball gods are magnificent.  But they are also cruel.

Think of Patrick Ewing battling against many of the greatest players of all time in the 90’s, finally has a chance to capture that elusive title in 1999, only to be struck with an Achilles tendon injury that effectively ended his career.

That Achilles tendon?  A literal Greek tragedy.  *chills*

Basketball Mythology

Professional basketball is a game of Stars. Any given team can only go as far as the best players in the game can take them (with very few exceptions).  In each decade, there exists a pantheon of stars who wage a sort of “higher battle” to determine the fate of the league.  Within the universe of Basketball Mythology, these Stars act as demigods: half-human, half-divine basketball beings. They are basketball players, but each comes with their own unique set of supernatural powers.  Take a look:    

  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Devastating skyhook
  • Michael Jordan:  Maniacal will to win
  • Shaquille O’Neal:  Gargantuan size, power, and athleticism
  • Allen Iverson:  Killer crossover
  • Tim Duncan:  Flawless fundamentals
  • LeBron James:  A combination of everyone’s powers all rolled into one
  • Kawhi Leonard: A Skynet style robot but with baseball gloves instead of hands
  • Steph Curry:  Unlimited shooting range

The basketball gods orchestrate these demigods to battle each other as they scale Mount Olympus to join the gods in an NBA Finals land illuminated by championship rings, Larry O’Brien Trophies, and fountains trickling with champagne.

The Tale of The Point God

In the ’20-’21 NBA Playoffs we find ourselves with a player who has been incessantly picked on by the cruelty of the basketball gods:  Chris Paul.

Chris Paul is known as “The Point God”, a not-so-subtle nod to his seemingly supernatural point guard abilities.  Paul is the ultimate floor general with an unprecedented blend of basketball IQ, ball-handling abilities, floor vision, scoring prowess, and defensive intensity.

It doesn’t matter the situation, Chris Paul makes your team better. 

But the basketball gods can be cruel.

It began in 2011.  Chris Paul was on the verge of being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team coming off three straight NBA Finals appearances and led by their own demigod in Kobe Bryant (who had already carved his spot among the immortals on Mount Olympus).  At the 11th hour, however, the trade was nixed by then NBA Commissioner David Stern.  Instead of going to the Lakers where championship runs would have surely followed, Paul found himself on the Los Angeles Clippers – the downtrodden franchise in the shadow of the Lakers with an established history of abject failure.

But Chris Paul is “The Point God”.  He immediately transformed the Clippers and led them to the playoffs.  He helped develop the likes of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and orchestrated what came to be known as “Lob City”.  By 2015, the Clippers were true Finals contenders and “The Point God” was ready to add his place on Mount Olympus.

The basketball gods can be cruel.

In the second round of the playoffs in 2015, Paul injured his hamstring causing him to miss the first two games to the Houston Rockets and ultimately lose the series in Game 7.

The “Lob City” Clippers ran it back in 2016 and once again established themselves as a top contender.  In the very first game of the playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers, Chris Paul broke his hand.  Blazers would win in 6.

The Clippers would give it one more go in 2017 knowing that they had the talent to make one last Finals run.  In the first round of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, Chris Paul’s top co-star Blake Griffin fractured his foot.  The depleted Clips would lose to the Jazz in Game 7.

Then, in what seemed like a stroke of over-due good fortune, the basketball gods sent Chris Paul via trade to the Houston Rockets.  Paul would finally get to pair with the level of demigod that he was denied in 2011 with the bearded offensive juggernaut, James Harden.

In their first season together, Paul and Harden created one of the two best teams in the NBA, the only real challenger to the Golden State Warriors all-time great dynasty.  In Game 5 of a 2-2 Western Conference Finals, Chris Paul was rolling. His leadership and confidence helped Houston push Golden State to the brink – and then it happened.

The basketball gods can be cruel. 

Without Chris Paul, Houston would go on to lose in Game 7. 

Paul slogged through the next season, butting heads with James Harden who ultimately had Paul jettisoned after another playoff loss to the Warriors.  He found himself on a young Oklahoma City Thunder team where he learned some new lessons in player development and leadership (but lost to the none other than the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs).

OKC decided to start over and it led Chris Paul to the Phoenix Suns. 

It’s been a match made in heaven by the basketball gods themselves. 

Paul now has a new demigod partner in Devin Booker – an offensive juggernaut in his own right, but one who has been willing to work with Chris Paul in ways that James Harden never would (i.e. moving without the ball and allowing CP3 to run the offense without carrying the entire load).  The Suns are built in the image of “The Point God”, they play high IQ, unselfish offense, and tough defense.  They are perfectly balanced with a deep roster around young stars and veteran winners. And as a nice touch, the basketball gods reunited Paul with his first coach from his young days in New Orleans, Monty Williams.

This is Chris Paul’s chance. 

They find themselves in the Western Conference Finals which begin today, and everything has aligned for Chris Paul to right all the wrongs, overcome all the injuries, bring justice to the basketball universe, and scale Mount Olympus to the NBA Finals.  But to do this, Chris Paul will have to lead his Suns through their Western Conference opponent – Paul’s former team that he single handedly transformed from bottom-feeder to consistent contender – the Los Angeles Clippers.

The basketball gods are magnificent.

And cruel.

Yesterday, the NBA confirmed that Chris Paul will miss Game 1 due to Covid Protocol.  Currently, there is no timetable for his return.  I expect that CP3 will be back at some point in this series, but how many games will he miss?  Can the Phoenix Suns, built in the image of “The Point God”, carry the load until Paul’s return? 

It remains to be seen.  I’ll be glued to this series to find out. 

Chris Paul may not get another chance like this.  If Paul is able to overcome his Clipper demons, make it to the NBA Finals and (dare I say it) win a championship, it should be regarded as one of the best basketball stories we’ve ever had the privilege of watching unfold.  A decade long odyssey of battles against the basketball gods themselves.

JUSTICE FOR CHRIS PAUL.

“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first bust burn.”

– Parable of the Talents

Sheesh, that’s poetic.

The basketball gods are magnificent.