“Chris Paul Made Me Touch the Ground”: Zach LaVine Recalls His ‘Welcome to the NBA’ Moment

Every athlete has their unique story of the infamous ‘Welcome to the NBA moment’ that shows up inevitably after they enter the league as a rookie. It serves as a wake-up call for athletes that the NBA is a whole different ball game. While some are lucky to get gentle reminders of this, Zach LaVine’s ‘Welcome to the NBA moment’ was brutal.

During an appearance on The WAE Show, LaVine revealed that he has two instances that fit the description. But the “real in-game” moment happened against Chris Paul. LaVine said that the Point God hit him with a Shammgod crossover that left him in skates.

He said, “Probably real in-game moment was [when] Chris Paul made me touch the ground. He hit me with the Shammgod, made me touch the ground.” The Shammgod crossover includes selling the toss to the defender with one hand and getting them to move in the direction you intend them to before crossing them over.

This allows the player enough time and space to go for a shot. LaVine said that CP3 completed the sequence with a pull-up jumper and it was at that moment that he realized that NBA basketball was going to be very different from college basketball. He said, “He hit a pull-up, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this is different.’”

This happened when LaVine played for the Wolves and CP was a veteran guard for the Clippers. Even though the then rookie had a height advantage over Paul, he just couldn’t handle the LA star’s wizardry on the court.

LaVine can comfort himself with the fact that CP3 has done this with other basketball stars as well.

Fred VanVleet had his ‘Welcome to the NBA moment’ against Chris Paul as well

VanVleet was undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft. However, he found himself playing for the Toronto Raptors the same year. It wasn’t too long before he experienced his ‘Welcome to the NBA moment’. On an episode of All The Smoke, FVV talked about how clueless he felt playing against the Point God.

He said, “Man he wasn’t even shooting, he had like 13 points in the half-time. He was double-crossing me, spinning me around, and he was rejecting. Man, I was spinning around. I was so lost, and I remember being in the locker room at half-time, saying this is different. He (CP3) wasn’t even in kill mode but he knew I was a rookie, so he was letting me know, he got me.”

For every young athlete, stepping onto the floor to face players they’ve looked up to means a lot. It’s a memory that they hold close to their hearts forever. However, as competitors, the veterans are least concerned about being nice to the youngsters.