There were rumors of Chris Paul considering retirement over the summer, but he ended those talks when he returned to the Los Angeles Clippers, aiming to go out on a high. It’s a star-studded team with championship ambitions, but the reason behind Paul’s wide smile upon rejoining to LA was not that. It was reuniting with his family.
Advertisement
Since leaving the Clippers in 2017, Paul has played in Houston, Oklahoma, Phoenix, San Francisco, and San Antonio. They’re all lovely places to play in, and Paul has also played with some of the best players across NBA history during these stints. However, his wife, Jada, and children never shifted home bases. They remained in Los Angeles.
So, Paul, in addition to training for and playing in 82 games a season, would have to fly back and forth between his rented houses and his home. Or, his family would have to find time out to come and meet him. It was a hassle, but now, he’s finally at that stage of his career where he can drive back from games and be greeted by his wife and children, not an empty bed.
In an interview with Mark J. Speaks, Paul wondered if others have noticed how much happier he looks today. “[I] still get a chance to play at the highest level and compete day in and day out, and I get to go home. I get to go home!” he said.
“One of the weekends where I got home, it was just me and my wife and my kids. And we usually have a house full of our family, cousins, uncles, all this stuff like that. But it was just us.”
Paul recalled how they were all just sitting together, doing nothing other than watching some TV. But boy, did he miss that. And it’s a feeling he never ever took for granted. “And I know they probably get tired of me saying it, but we’ll just be sitting here watching TV and I’ll just be like, ‘Damn I missed y’all.’ And I tell them it’s just the normalcy of life,” Paul added.
His children, Christopher and Camryn are 16 and 13 years old respectively, and after spending so much of their early childhood away, Paul wants to just be close to them and be a father.
“The last six years I would get out of practice and go home and talk to them on FaceTime and just see what they were doing. And now getting a chance to be a part of the simplest things at the school drop off. I dropped my daughter off with one of her friends at Universal Studios [on Sunday] night with another family. So, those 15-minute car rides are what really make my day,” he stated.
For a man who values family as deeply as Paul does, spending more than seven years away from them must have been excruciating. Still, there is a positive side to it all. It reminded him just how loved he is. Now 40, Paul knows better than ever that through every high and low of his career, his family has always been his greatest source of strength and support.
Paul’s biggest motivation in life
Paul’s longevity, of course, will primarily be due to the fact that he takes care of himself. But mentally, he’s gone as long as he has because of his wife, kids, and his extended family in North Carolina. In an interview with Malika Andrews earlier this year, he said, “Only way I can sort of remember it is by seeing the people around me.”
“I think that’s what gets me emotional at times. I was just at home in North Carolina and I got a chance to see my uncles and my aunts and my grandparents. They watch every game, every night.”
“I still remember when I came to the Clippers, games would be at 7. They at 7:30 now. That’s a 10:30 start for my granny. But she’s going to be up watching every game, texting and calling me after every game. That’s why you do this, is because of the support,” he added.
The support Paul received paid off. He’s had a Hall of Fame career, full of personal accolades and All-NBA team selections. Sadly, a championship ring is missing.
But with a Clippers side that has a healthy Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Bradley Beal, Brook Lopez, among more stars, it’s possible that Paul’s (supposed) retirement year ends with a bang. It’d be a perfect basketball fairytale.
