There are certain things that NBA fans can expect to see when they watch a game. Steph Curry swishing a three. Nikola Jokic executing a perfect pass. LeBron James driving for an and-1. Sometimes though, it’s the least expected occurrences that are the most memorable ones, as David West spoke about during a recent appearance on the Knuckleheads podcast.
Advertisement
West spent the first eight years of his career in New Orleans with the Hornets, and in six of those seasons, he was teammates with Chris Paul. Paul is still going strong in his 20th season and is currently with the Spurs. Back then, however, he had a bit more athleticism than people give him credit for today.
West spoke about the time Paul shocked everyone by dunking on Dwight Howard, of all people, during a 2006 game.
“I didn’t know CP was gonna turn it over, man, but he was sneaky like that. If he got enough running start, and Dwight didn’t expect him to dunk it either. So he caught him on that back hip and it was a wrap. I couldn’t believe it. You just were like, ‘Damn!’ He just dunked him, dog. He just dunked him.”
This dunk has to be one of the most unexpected things to ever happen on an NBA basketball court. Take a look:
Chris Paul reacts to his poster slam from this date in 2006 against the Magic! #NBAVault #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/zscjNlt7Lf
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) December 20, 2021
Howard wasn’t quite yet at the point where he won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards, but he was still a defensive force, even in his first few years in the league. Sure, Paul used the element of surprise to his favor, but it’s still extremely impressive.
The fact that he tells kids to look up this clip on YouTube is hilarious, but if you had ever dunked on Dwight Howard, wouldn’t you do the same thing? I know I would.
Whenever Paul’s career comes to an end and he’s inevitably inducted into the Hall of Fame, the first clip shown will probably be his Game 7 series-clinching shot to beat the Spurs in 2015. After that though, it may just be the time he put Dwight Howard on a poster.
