‘AAU dad’ before Warriors’ contract decision

Chris Paul’s season ended earlier than it has in over a decade. He’d made the playoffs for 14 straight seasons. He was a fixture of May basketball.

But with the Warriors, Paul missed the playoffs despite teaming up with three other future Hall of Famers. Before this year, the last time he played for a lottery team was 2010.

Life was different back then. Paul was 24 and in his athletic prime. It was five teams ago, before he created pick-and-roll nirvana in Los Angeles with Blake Griffin. His first child, Chris Paul II, was only one year old; he’s now on the cusp of the preps basketball hype machine.

Paul is older and wiser now. He’s a father of two. He intends to extend his career into Year 20, confident in his ability to still drive efficient offenses. He did so this past season with the Warriors, even on a team that seemed like an awkward fit personality-wise but ended up being a tougher fit on the court.

Paul has a “big summer” ahead of him, he said. His offseason will be another one of training — which doesn’t get easier with age — negotiating and family time. For someone who has lived away from his wife and kids for the past four years, that third activity is a real silver lining.

“Yeah, don’t feel good,” Paul said of losing his playoff streak. “(But) I get a chance to travel and be an AAU dad, make some of my daughter’s volleyball games. “A little bit of a longer break than usual, but it is what it is.”

Paul never would’ve imagined playing with the Warriors before they traded for him. For many years, he battled Steph Curry and Draymond Green in the playoffs, often coming out on the losing end. Green feuded with him. Curry used him as a measuring stick early in his career, then surpassed him.

But Paul and Green became fast friends and somewhat of basketball kindred spirits. He got involved in multiple Bay Area-based charities, including one that helps create savings accounts for Oakland middle schoolers.

On the court, Paul was a member of several of Golden State’s most productive lineups. His counting numbers didn’t jump off his Basketball Reference page, but Paul stabilized the Warriors when Steph Curry sat more than any other time since Kevin Durant’s tenure.

Paul developed excellent pick-and-roll chemistry with rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis and ranked second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio among players who averaged at least 25 minutes per game.

A pleasant takeaway for Paul was the Warriors’ flexibility in finding pockets of time for the point guard and his family in Los Angeles to connect during the season. Paul is a 12-time All-Star, a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and has made over $380 million in career earnings, but is  most proud of being Chris and Camryn’s dad.

“There’s no greater job,” Paul said of fatherhood in a mid-March conversation with this news organization.

When the Warriors traveled to games against the Lakers or Clippers, Paul would spend extra time with his family there. He occasionally brought his family on the team charter. When he was sidelined for six weeks with a fractured hand, he rehabbed at home in LA.

On March 15, a day before Golden State’s game in Crypto.com Arena, Paul brought his son to practice with the team at UCLA’s facility. The younger Paul rebounded for his dad and Curry. When practice wrapped up, the 14-year-old put up some shots of his own.

Paul has always liked to bring his son to practice. He raised him in locker rooms and brought him to postgame press conferences, where he went viral for making the “Blake Face” as a toddler.

Paul has always wanted his son around as much as possible to see what it takes to succeed.

“At the end of the day, I want both of my kids to look at me as Dad, and not as just as an NBA player,” Paul said. “And so that’s what’s most important. Making sure they get the opportunity to see the work. I always say this: Professional athletes, whoever they may be, their kids’ advantage is not their last names, their advantage is getting the opportunity to see the work.”

Paul’s son has his exact name and is starting to make one for himself. He’s already earning attention as an eighth-grade hooper on the AAU circuit. Paul often streams his son’s games at his locker after Warriors games using an app called Game Changer, though he laments not seeing him play in person.

“That’s the hardest part for me, is that I can’t,” Paul said.

Camryn, Paul’s daughter, plays a little bit of everything. He never forced a basketball into either of his children’s hands. This summer, he’ll get to see both of them in action.

“It’s been the coolest thing, watching them grow up,” Paul said. “That credit, actually, goes to my wife (Jada). She’s been there, taking them to school. The school work, the grades, the parties classmates will have, the play dates. This and that. Little Chris is playing AAU basketball now, so my wife is coordinating going to the tournaments and stuff.”

Chris Paul’s 8th grade son Chris Jr. was in his bag today 🎒@CP3 @NikeEYB pic.twitter.com/oOgygN1T1H

— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) April 7, 2024

A week after that practice in Westwood, Paul’s son was in San Francisco for a school field trip. The point guard left picture day at Chase Center a bit early to meet his son and his classmates for a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

“I’m forever grateful to the organization and whatnot and how much they allowed me to get back and see my family as much,” Paul said.

The next night, Paul II and his pals were in attendance as his dad dished a season-high 14 assists in a turnover-free vintage performance. Camryn and Chris don’t have to find old highlights on YouTube or TikTok to see their dad play; he can still hoop.

Where he’ll hoop next is the open question.

Despite enjoying his time with Golden State, another team change is likely on the horizon for Paul. Even his coach admitted that the fit on the court wasn’t perfect. Lineups with Paul and Curry in the backcourt are too small. The Warriors need to get more athletic, bigger and better defensively — nothing Paul at 39 can provide.

Paul’s family will remain in Los Angeles, which became their home base after Paul’s kids switched schools five times in five years. “I wanted them to have some type of stability,” Paul said.

The Lakers and Clippers would be obvious fits as options close to home. But each team could look a lot different based on how their playoff runs pan out, and they both have an abundance of on-ball playmakers. The Spurs and Victor Wembanyama need a point guard. So might Phoenix, where he made his lone Finals run three years ago.