The life of an NBA player isn’t all glitz-and-glamor as fans like to believe. The lack of stability follows nearly every player aside from the superstars in the league. As a result, veteran point guard Chris Paul has lived apart from his family for the past six seasons. Despite having more than enough money to relocate his wife and children, he revealed the reasoning behind sacrificing family time.
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Paul made a guest appearance on Kings star, DeMar DeRozan’s YouTube series Dinners With DeMar. The show focuses on conversations surrounding mental health. The Spurs point guard has battled numerous mental obstacles in his career, specifically involving his family. Although the distance away from them has taken a toll on Paul, it’s in his children’s best interest. He said,
“People will hear this and be like, ‘Why the hell they don’t take their family with them?’ I told you, little Chris when he was at Sierra Canyon, he was graduating I think it was from fifth or sixth grade. He stood up and he said, ‘I’m the kid that’s been to five schools in the last five years.’ So that’s when I made the decision, you know they say you got to choose your hard. Well, I’m going to make it hard on me so it doesn’t have to be hard on my kids.”
Ahead of the 2019-20 season, the Houston Rockets traded Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder. At that moment, Paul and his wife, Jada, came to the difficult decision for his family to move back to Los Angeles. The 12-time All-Star’s children grew up in LA during his tenure with the Clippers.
Paul aspired to give his children some form of normality considering their situation. However, one moment in particular stood out as the deciding factor for Paul to make the decision.
The pivotal moment for Chris Paul to decide for his family
Paul revealed that during his son’s fifth or sixth-grade graduation, he knew he had to make a change. Chris Jr. shared words in front of his fellow graduates at Sierra Canyon, which deeply resonated with his father.
“I’m the kid that’s been to five schools in the last five years,” Chris Jr. said. Although Paul’s son never complained about the constant change in locations, it took a toll on him. Paul made the executive decision to take the burden of the pain rather than have his children go through it.
CP3 is still on the West Coast near his children, but there is a two-hour time difference between LA and San Antonio. However, the 39-year-old has hinted that he doesn’t have many years left in the tank. He’s the second-oldest player in the league and has played for 20 seasons. All things considered, Paul may hang his boots up soon, and spend time with his family again.
