Chris Paul, 38, successfully underwent surgery to repair a second metacarpal fracture in his left hand the day before yesterday, and Paul will undergo a follow-up examination in three weeks, after which the exact time for his return will be determined. This is the 12th hand injury in Paul's career, and as a professional basketball player, as a commander on the basketball court, Paul missed a lot of games because of a hand injury. Although Paul's surgery has been successfully completed, there is no definite information on the exact time of his return, and as it stands, Paul will be out for at least four more weeks.
In the summer of 2005, Paul passed the draft and officially landed in the NBA, and then Paul quickly established himself in the Hornets (now the Pelicans) and grew into a new generation of "Queen Bee". Paul in 2005-2009 was the pinnacle of his athleticism. Especially in the 2008-2009 season, Paul, as a guard who is only six feet tall, won the assist and steal king with an average of 23 points per game. But at that time, Paul didn't catch up with the team configuration too well, and the semifinals were Paul's ceiling, and it wasn't until he joined the Rockets that he touched the floor of the Western Conference finals for the first time in his career.
During his years with the Hornets, Paul rose from a rookie to one of the league's top ball handlers. He's small, but he can carry a guard who is taller than him, and he knows how to use his body very well on the field. His cross-step can help him secure advantageous openings, and his ability to change direction in confrontations always allows him to provide precise assists to his teammates in attack, or find gaps to shoot quickly. However, the injury in the 2009-2010 season had a big impact on Paul's career.
After Paul joined the Clippers, in fact, Paul's pace was obviously not as fast as before. Although Paul was at the age of the Clippers, Paul had the league's top mid-range offense, offensive ability and playmaking ability were good enough. But after the injury, Paul's athleticism declined significantly, and many times he avoided clever fights. In the Clippers, there are good teammates around him, and he doesn't need to attack the city, but when the team needs him to score, Paul can still be the main attacker on the court, and more often, Paul is the commander on the court, a more mature commander.
In the past few years with the Clippers, the expectations for the Clippers have been quite high, but the Clippers have ended in disappointment for several seasons in a row. In the summer of 2017, Paul officially joined the Rockets, starting the battle of the Warriors. In their first year with the Rockets, Paul and Harden led the Rockets to a 65-17 record and made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Paul was injured in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, which led to the Rockets being subsequently pulled by the Warriors in two consecutive games, which was also the first time in Paul's career that he touched the floor of the Western Conference Finals.
The following season, the Rockets' momentum declined, but the Warriors were not absent, but this time it was not in the Western Conference finals, but in the Western Conference semifinals. In the first 4 games of the Western Conference semifinals, the two sides were still inseparable, and in the battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Rockets lost to the Warriors on the road. Just when fans thought that the Rockets would drag the game into a tie-break at home, the tie-break battle did not come as scheduled, and the Rockets were finally eliminated by the Warriors with a score of 2-4. By the end of the season, Paul was averaging 32 minutes per game and 156 points 45 rebounds 82 assists.
Losing to the Warriors in the playoffs for two consecutive seasons made Paul and Harden start to dislike, and as a last resort, the Rockets sent Paul to the Thunder in exchange for Wei Shao. In the year of the Thunder, Paul began to play the role of a senior, in which Paul surpassed 18,000 career points and became the second player in NBA history to score at least 18,000 points, 9,000 assists and 2,000 steals. At the end of the season, Paul was traded again, but this time it was a successful venture for Paul.
In the 2020-2021 season, Paul became the Suns' backcourt commander. Here, the Suns have young players such as Booker, Ayton, Bridges, Johnson, etc., and in the first season of joining the Suns, the Suns' record has skyrocketed. At the end of the season, the Suns finished second in the West and eliminated the defending champion Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. When everyone was not optimistic about the Suns, Paul led the young Suns all the way to the finals. This is also the first time in Paul's career that he has stood on the stage of the finals, and it is also the closest he has come to a championship so far.
What happened next was the famous scene as we know it, when the Bucks, with the combination of Antetokounmpo and Holiday teamed up, defeated the Paul-led Suns to win the championship that season. In his first season of joining, he led the Suns to return to the Finals after many years, and such a Sun, such a Paul is certainly worth our expectation. In the subsequent 2021-2022 season, the Suns made great progress in the regular season, reaching the playoffs with a league-best record of 64-18, which is also the best record in team history.
In the first round of the playoffs, Paul led the Suns to a 4-2 win over the Pelicans. Met the Mavericks in the semifinals, and the outside world thought that the Suns advanced to the Western Conference Finals was expected, but the Suns unexpectedly lost to the Mavericks in the semifinals, and lost to the Mavericks in the home tiebreaker, which made the Suns harvest a disappointing season. The unwilling Suns traded Durant from the Nets in the middle of last season, but unfortunately the Suns still failed to break through the fate of the Western Conference semifinals, they lost to the championship team - the Nuggets in the semifinals, and Paul also missed almost the entire semifinals due to injury.
At the end of the season, the arrogant Suns' new owner traded for a younger Wizards backcourt, Beal, and Paul was traded to the Wizards as a trade chip. However, the Wizards, who were ready to completely rebuild, did not leave Paul, but sent Paul to the Warriors with ideas. As an opponent who once eliminated himself from the competition, now he has to put aside his old suspicions and play together, which is really a humiliation for athletes. But for the sake of that supreme honor, everything has to look forward, as long as the desired result can be achieved, the process is no longer important.
However, that expectation is gradually dissipating, and after a sweet start to the season, the Warriors' record this season began to plummet. The Warriors are now 12th in the West with a 17-20 record, one step away from the playoffs5 wins. Although the gap seems to be small before the halfway point of the regular season, the situation for the Warriors is becoming less and less optimistic. Green has been suspended twice by the league this season, missing 22 games, and Payton Jr., the main backup rotation, has also missed 21 games due to injury, causing the Warriors' quality on the defensive end to deteriorate significantly.
Now that Paul is injured again, Curry, Klay and Wiggins are the three main players, and their recent form has been very sluggish, and the only way for the Warriors to catch up with the first group this season is to trade. Chris Paul's on-court intelligence, control and big heart in key moments were impressive. However, as the years passed, Paul was unable to avoid a decline in physical functioning. After 19 years of fighting, Paul has already been riddled with injuries, and how long his physical condition allows him to continue to fight is really a big test for Paul.
Chris Paul's style of play has always been known for being solid and efficient. His precise passing, excellent ball control and ability to score when it matters are all part of his league ethic. But as he gets older, even the iron man struggles to resist the erosion of time. In recent seasons, it is not difficult to see that Paul has started to show some fatigue in the game, and his physical reflexes and speed have dropped compared to his peak. In the last two seasons, Paul has always been absent due to injury at key moments in the playoffs, which inevitably makes people feel that Sao Paulo is gone forever.
Basketball is a sport with high physical requirements, fierce confrontations, high-speed offensive and defensive transitions, and high-intensity physical exertion, all of which are severe tests for players' bodies. And the point guard, as the commander on the court, is not only responsible for organizing the offense, but also showing enough strength on the defensive end. This undoubtedly increased the strain on Paul's body. Judging from Paul's physical condition and age, there is really not much left for Paul's career. Delon, who was in the same class as Paul, has retired for almost seven years, and Felton has retired for almost five years, and Paul has played 42,667 minutes in the regular season so far, 24th in history. In front of him, there are only Oscar, Payton, Stockton and Kidd.
According to statistics, the average professional lifespan of a point guard is shorter than that of a player in other positions. This is because they are under more pressure and physically demanding in competitions. But there are also some players who have successfully extended their careers through scientific training and reasonable playing methods. For his part, Paul has a very high basketball IQ and a lot of game experience. This means that he is better able to adjust his pace and style during the game to adapt to the changes in his body. At the same time, he also pays great attention to the maintenance and recovery of the body, and maintains his competitive condition through reasonable training and diet.
However, it is undeniable that the decline of the body is an inevitable trend. Even the best players can't resist the beating of time. But it is this challenge and competition that pushes them to keep moving forward and try to overcome all difficulties. For Paul, whether or not he will be able to continue to fight in the league will largely depend on his own attitude and decision. If he still retains his love for basketball and his desire to win, then he may be able to continue to do wonders on the court.
While we can't say exactly how long Chris Paul will be able to play, what we can be sure of is that the legendary point guard will write his own basketball story in his own way. Whether on or off the court, he will continue to bring endless passion and charm to the basketball world.