Statistically, CP3 can be considered the greatest coordinator in history, but with zero titles it remains in the shadow of other giants • And how does all this relate to Steve Nash?
Chris Paul.
Point-Gad
Photo:
AP
About a decade ago and a bit bubbling under the surface was a sub-phenomenon characterized by NBA fans swearing that Chris Paul was the best coordinator.
Not in the league - in history.
It was a time when NBA fans were first exposed to an infinite wealth of videos, statistics, and analyzes of advanced metrics.
And when they put it all in the Excel mixers, the same result came out again and again: Paul is the best coordinator ever.
Chances are you think this is a crazy claim.
Because when you talk about the greatest ever then you look at titles, achievements, awards.
Memories.
Anecdotes.
Narrative.
Things that are enacted in the collective consciousness.
And what has Paul got to do with Magic, Robertson, Kerry, Stockton, Thomas, Nash, Kidd and Peyton - in these things?
They all achieved more than him.
So true, to claim he's number 1 is pretty much a slip.
That is, it is detached from context.
And context is probably almost the whole story here.
But basketball, and that's the point of Paul's followers, is a team sport.
Although sometimes it's easy to forget it.
And all these things that create the context - championships and other successes - depend first of all on the team and the situation of the player.
Things that the lone player has almost no control over.
But when you look at the one player, and try to imagine him in a vacuum - in other words, when you try to get rid of the context and isolate only the personal numbers to produce a picture of "clean" individual abilities - Paul very often definitely tops the lists.
And now that Paul and Oklahoma City have been eliminated from the playoffs in Game 7 against the Houston Rockets they preferred - what from here will fit into that "context"?
How many will remember that Paul was excellent, that OKC achieved far more than they expected?
And how many will simply remember that again Paul failed to advance deep into the playoffs?
So, it seems to me that Paul's last year with the Thunder is kind of a "career year" for him.
Not in the sense of "the best year of his career."
But yes in the sense of a year that represents the career.
Because he was again the most important player on the team, the best, the leader who makes everyone better around him.
He again led a team that observed the forecasts.
In 9 of the 15 seasons in his career he has been involved in at least 85% of the games - and in those 9 seasons his teams have won 54 games in aggregate than what the betting agencies gave them before the start of the season.
But as mentioned, unfortunately this year represents a year that once again it ended with a brief visit to the playoffs.
And how can he be "blamed" for it?
impossible.
As it would be unfair to put on him the responsibility for never reaching the final.
Unfair - but people will still do it.
And here we return again to the matter of context, and how accidental and fragile it can sometimes be.
And here, a day after Paul was eliminated again early in the playoffs, Steve Nash came and signed for 4 years as the Brooklyn Nets coach.
This is a surprising and intriguing appointment.
After all, Nash has never coached a team, not even as an assistant, but did work for the Warriors with who he now plays, Kevin Durant.
Now is an opportunity to recall that Nash, too, like Paul, has helped his teams as a player achieve more than they expected.
And he too never reached the final.
But even though he has not given better personal seasons than Paul's, Nash has nevertheless finished his career with two MVP titles.
Just the kind of thing that goes into the collective memory.
Building the narrative.
Exactly the kind of thing Chris Paul will no longer have.
Does it matter to anyone that Nash's wins are controversial, while between Paul and the MVP, people like LeBron James stood at his peak?
Not really, because those are the things that are hard to remember.
But for those who are able to break away from the big stories, and still concentrate on the small numbers, last season, and the first-round series against Houston, only reinforced what some believed a decade ago.
That Chris Paul is the point-gad.
Whether or not a good enough group around him.