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All in a day's work: no classes, no study halls, more sleep, even time to eat—it's a wonderful life for Hornets rookie point guard Chris Paul

Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 2005 by Don Wade

Point guard Chris Paul has gone from being a big man on campus at Wake Forest to a doughnut-toting NBA rookie with the Hornets. So, he has made trades: A used Jeep Grand Cherokee--"way used," he says--for a tricked-out BMW. A demanding college schedule--post-practice study hall that sometimes would stretch to 1 a.m.--for free time as far as the eye can see.

"Practice is usually about 2 hours and 45 minutes," Paul says of his new life. "Then you have the rest of the day to do whatever you want. It is unbelievable."

Of course, Paul also has taken on new indignities: bringing pastry to practice, singing Madonna's "Vogue" in front of the entire team and, naturally, carrying veteran center P.J. Brown's bags.

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"What I miss are my teammates," says Paul, who grew up in Winston-Salem and left Wake after his sophomore year. "And I miss beating North Carolina and Duke and going to class the next day and being with the people who cheered for you the whole night."

Yet two things remain as important here as they were there: food and sleep, the first two plays in any young athlete's playbook.

In the beginning ...

What's the first thing a good point guard does at the start of the day? Why, he dishes out an assist.

"My roommate was Justin Gray. Sometimes, he had a hard time getting up," Paul says. "I had class at 10; Justin had class at 9, so I had to wake up earlier."

Paul didn't make time for breakfast, so he would enter his mid-morning battle of wits--Debate and Advocacy class--low on fuel. He pushed the ball anyway.

"I got pretty good because I majored in communications. Once we had to argue about drilling in an Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We had to argue both sides."

Even then he had a killer crossover. These days, Paul starts his day in Oklahoma City earlier, often waking by 7:30 a.m. Instead of a 10 a.m. class, he typically has a 10:30 practice. To muster the energy to push the ball there, he has to eat first. But before he eats, he picks up teammate and neighbor J.R. Smith.

"I eat breakfast every morning now," Paul says, proud of the growth in his nutritional game. "Some mornings I stop at McDonald's and get the bacon and egg McGriddles combo."

Ah, yes, the breakfast of champions.

Sleight of hand

Paul is so quick that he's fifth in the NBA in steals with 2.1 per game. Naturally, he honed his reflexes in college--in a midday problems and statistics class. The teacher, taskmaster that she was, didn't allow students to eat in class.

"I'd try to sneak in Chick-fil-A and eat in the back of class," Paul says. "As a college student, you have so much to do."

Which isn't to say he always was tethered to a desk or running sprints in the gym. There were free moments, times when he even indulged in video games.

"I used to play NCAA Basketball. It was fun to play as me--same thing now playing NBA Live."

Other times before practice, which often was in the evening, be would carve out time to visit the coaches offices and answer fan mail.

ft was the perfect training ground for this season's postnap ritual: watching TV in the early evening with his brother while signing Chris Paul basketball cards made by Upper Deck. He says the integrity of his autograph has not been breached--not even when he signs 1,700 cards in one day.

"I'm dead serious," Paul says with a laugh. "My hand gets sore, but I sign every last one of them."

Time marches on

Paul's mom and dad came to Oklahoma City for Thanksgiving. Mom cooked dinner and brought along Aunt Rosie's famous sweet tea, which made such an impression on Smith that he may at this very moment be dialing up Aunt Rosie and telling her he'll pay the shipping if she'll do the brewing.

Point is, in the end, an NBA rookie--especially a homebody such as Paul--doesn't leave his old life so much as he blends it with his new one as best he can. Problem is, some things have to change.

"After home games at Wake, me and my family would usually go to IHOP, which was right across the street from the arena," Paul says. "Now, you're hopping on a plane and flying to the next city."

Those cities don't have Aunt Rosie's sweet tea.

And Oklahoma City doesn't stir any hatred for Duke and North Carolina. But there is a ready-made rivalry.

"The night before we played the Mavericks, I went to dinner and people were saying, 'Y'all have to beat Dallas.'

"It's a business now," Paul says. "But you still have little butterflies in your stomach before every game. I'm just so excited God gave me this opportunity."

Not to mention time to eat lunch.

Points taken

Because point guards Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Raymond Felton were drafted third, fourth and fifth, they can expect to be compared with each other for years. The early returns clearly favor Paul.

Chris Paul, Hornets. He won the starting job over Speedy Claxton during the preseason and quickly emerged as the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. He leads rookies--and the Hornets--in minutes, assists and steals.

All in a day's work: no classes, no study halls, more sleep, even time to eat—it's a wonderful life for Hornets rookie point guard Chris Paul

Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 2005 by Don Wade

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