Both Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook are two of the best point guards in NBA history. Each of them has his place in the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot entry when it is all said and done.
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Their all-time greatness has been discussed several times whenever they achieved any individual honour or broke a record that no other point guard has.
But seldom they got people comparing them with each other because they are different breeds of players despite playing the same position. However, with the Suns and Clippers Playoffs series approaching, the Fox Sports 1 analysts have brought up a debate about the two on the all-time list.
Shannon Sharpe says Russell Westbrook has had a better career than Chris Paul
If anything, Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe have taken the art of getting clicks to the highest of levels. The veteran analysts recently debated about the all-time greatness of two of the NBA’s greatest 75 players of all time.
“Russell Westbrook over-achieved in his career,” Shannon said talking about how Brodie. The 4th pick of the 2008 draft, did much better than he should have in accordance with the hype he got in college. Whereas, CP3 who was the 4th pick of 2005 has not achieved what he should have.
Who’s had the better career: Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul?
Chris has had a better career because he is an all-around better player. Russ is clearly more spectacular because more people enjoy watching him.” — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/LEAHoLpyyH
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) April 14, 2023
Now, Shannon is right when he said he Paul underdelivered as he is The Point God of the NBA and has won no championships to show for it. However, he did not have as good a chance at the title as Westbrook had with those Thunder teams.
Westbrook had a superteam in Oklahoma which Paul never had until now
Be it from the franchise-grown players, the OKC Thunder had a super team when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played together in Oklahoma. James Harden was coming off the bench for them while Brodie was the primary handler and Serge Ibaka was a top-notch post presence.
They had ample chances until 2012 with that team, the last year of which ended with a Finals loss to the Heat and Harden leaving for the Rockets. Russ and KD played four more years together but failed to win a championship. Experts and fans both believed it was because of Westbrook.
Now Paul has a super team in Phoenix with Durant. If he somehow falls short against Westbrook and Co., people will be serious about this discussion and might have Chris Paul behind him on the all-time list irrespective of their resumes.
