One of the arguments often made for LeBron James in the GOAT debate vs Michael Jordan is the LA Lakers star’s longevity. Afterall, this will be his 23rd season in the NBA. However, the league’s all-time leading scorer isn’t the only noteworthy player in that regard. Chris Paul deserves a breath in that same conversation. Paul has also notably returned home to the LA Clippers for what will be the twilight years of his career. Unfortunately, it’s not going exactly as he had thought it would.
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The 12-time All-Star was an icon for the Clippers for six seasons, which featured some of the best years of his career. The 6-foot guard even finished third in MVP voting in his first season with the Clippers.
Now, 10 years later, it would be unreasonable to ask Paul to dial back the clock to the days of his prime. His role and abilities have changed as time has passed and his body has evolved. Nevertheless, he remains the same steady and consistent point guard throughout his 20 years in the NBA.
Thankfully, having a certain level of familiarity with the Clippers organization will help his cause. At 40 years old, Paul also views basketball in a different light compared to back in his heyday. In a conversation with Lou Williams, the 12-time NBA All-Star shed light on things that he would’ve taken for granted in the past.
Williams brought up the Clippers’ training camps in Hawaii, which didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it would appear Paul had some strong feelings about it.
“That’s crazy by the way, you know y’all started going to Hawaii when I left,” Paul said on The Underground Lounge. “And then they stopped when I came back. Man, that’s some b*******.”
Ahead of the 2017-18 season, the Clippers traded Paul to the Houston Rockets for a package which included Williams and Patrick Beverley. The team then decided that they would implement a tradition of taking their training camps to Hawaii. This had become protocol for the past 8 seasons.
Paul would’ve loved to enjoy the weather in Hawaii before the start of the season. Unfortunately, as soon as he returned, things changed. Williams jokingly seems to know why.
“I looked around and said, ‘Ballmer spent that money. He wants to see y’all a** in the practice gyms back there,” Williams joked.
It does make sense for the Clippers to stay in Los Angeles. Now, with the creation of the Intuit Dome, the team has all the resources to be ready for the start of the 2025-26 season. Training at a neutral location wouldn’t allow personalized workouts for each player at the scale they could receive at home.
The Clippers will certainly need to be in the best shape they possibly could be before the start of the season. After the team signed Paul, they became the oldest team in NBA history with an average age of 33.2. The gruelling 82-game season definitely won’t be easy on their bodies. But their wisdom could be the difference as the franchise hunts for its first NBA championship.
