If you guys will excuse me for a minute, I’d appreciate it. I think I need to sit down and do some deep breathing exercises, because I’m going through a bit of an existential crisis at the moment. It feels weird, it feels wrong, but I think I actually [lowers voice] agree with Kendrick Perkins on something.
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The universe has been tilted on its axis, because this is not a position I’m familiar with. Normally, I’m diametrically opposed to the insanity that flows from Big Perk like molten lava from an active volcano, but for once, I’m actually with him.
Chris Paul was in the news last week for signing a one-year deal to return to the Clippers, the team that he used to run as the mayor of Lob City. This will be Paul’s 21st season in the NBA and likely his last, he says, as he joins forces with James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and other fellow newcomer Bradley Beal.
Seeing CP3’s basketball mortality laid out before us, many NBA pundits have spoken in the past week about his legacy and where he ranks among the all-time greats. Unlike most of them, Perkins has Paul outside the top-10 point guards, but to me, this shouldn’t be a controversial take.
“CP3 is a top-15 greatest point guard of all time,” Perk said on a recent episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast. “I do not have him in my top 10. I don’t have him ranked above Russell Westbrook. Did CP3 do a lot of things, change the franchise, win a lot of games and things? Yes, absolutely. I would never take that away from him.”
Perk defended his take on ESPN to a panel that included Malika Andrews, Marc J. Spears and Dave McMenamin. “When it comes down to all-time point guards, you got to have some kind of validation to get into the top 10,” he said.
Perkins then went through his top 10, which includes Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry, Isiah Thomas, Oscar Robertson, John Stockton, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Bob Cousy and Westbrook. He pointed out that every one of those names except Stockton has either a ring or multiple MVPs, neither of which Paul possesses.
To move Paul into the top 10, you must take someone out
Nobody seemed happy with Perk’s take, but where’s the lie? I could understand wanting to move Cousy out because he played so long ago, but he also won six rings and led the league in assists eight straight years. It would be crazy not to recognize his place in the point guard hierarchy.
Westbrook has been a divisive figure, but he did help get a team to the Finals, something Paul has never accomplished. Paul is more of a traditional pass-first point guard, but Westbrook also did things on the court that Paul could never dream of. I could go either way between them.
The only other name that Paul could possibly replace is Payton, but the Glove’s reputation as one of the best perimeter defenders gets him the nod from me. Paul was a great defender in his prime too, but Payton was on another level.
Paul will end up at or near the top of the leaderboard among point guards in terms of many statistical categories. That’s admirable and worth celebrating, but the fact that he played more than 20 seasons with today’s sports science and nutrition doesn’t make him better than someone like Isiah Thomas, who played just 13.
To use a baseball reference, Craig Biggio has more hits than Ted Williams and Babe Ruth, but it doesn’t make him a better baseball player. Compiling stats is nice, but there’s more to the game than that.
McMenamin rebutted Perk by saying, “This isn’t any shade at any of the guys we’d take off the list, but Chris Paul, he has to be stamped as a top-10 point guard. Perk, when you think about point guard, and the responsibilities of that player — organizing an offense, being a consistent voice, being a leader, having the ability to not only score himself but set up for others, play point-of-attack defense … he has to be a top-10 point guard, I’m sorry.”
These are all great qualities, and they do make Paul impressive at the position, but when you’re talking “best of” lists, that’s a relative conversation. You don’t just need to be great; you need to be better than others to move up the ranks, and McMenamin never offers a name sacrifice in place of Paul.
Other than his series-winning shot against the San Antonio Spurs 10 years ago, Paul has never been at his best when it matters most: in the playoffs. He shares that trait with Harden, who he’s now paired up with for the second time.
Is anyone going to try to put Harden in the top 10 when his career is done? He’ll have brag-worthy overall stats, but his postseason failures will outweigh them. I’m not sure why Paul gets a pass when Harden won’t.
Perkins is either right or only slightly wrong at worst. CP3 might sneak his way into the top-10 all-time point guards list but not by much. There’s no argument other than compiling stats or recency bias to put him in the top 7.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to lie down. Agreeing with Perk is not for the faint of heart.
