Photo: David Grunfeld, Nola.com
Two key points:
1. I love Chris Paul. He’s such a gritty basketball player that he’s a throwback to the days of trash-talking and being in your face. He just plays with such a ‘f*ck you’ attitude that we don’t see anymore and it’s great to watch.
2. New Orleans Hornets Greivis Vasquez is sort of a twerp. He is a basketball player who plays with the mentality of a soccer player. He’s loud, obnoxious and likes to take cheap shots in the court.
Last night, the mayor of New Orleans, Cajun Boy, invited me to courtside seats at the Hornets/Clippers game where I could hear everything said on the bench and on the court. What I heard and saw was the best point guard in the league demolish his would-be successor for the title.
Photo: Cajun Boy
It all seemed to start in the 2nd quarter when Vasquez drew his third foul. He went to the bench cursing the Clippers for flopping and playing soft. The game went on, tightly contested like most Hornets games, before the Clippers started to pull away. As Chris Paul checked in, he started mouthing off at the press row about something he was about to do.
For the next three minutes, he undressed Vasquez on the court with crossovers and verbal barbs. The best moment came when Paul shook Vasquez and landed a floater over Anthony Davis to force a Hornets timeout and effectively ice the game. Instead of taking his huddle, Paul started holding up “21” wit his fingers (Vasquez’s number) and yelling to Wendell Pierce, “Don’t worry, Vasquez is your savior!” He just had this stoic a-hole look on his face too. “Vasquez is your savior?!”
Then, as the last minute ticked away, Paul stole the ball from Vasquez in traffic, stopped, held the ball out and said, “here” before taking off down the court. The whole exchange was such a sight to behold as I’d imagined this is what Jordan did to guys like John Starks on a daily basis.
Paul finished the game with 16 points and his team was victorious, 105-91. Vasquez? Scoreless in 27 minutes of play. Naturally, after the game, Paul handed Vasquez the ball and refused to shake his hand. It was just an unrelenting thrashing that showed the sort of heartless bastard CP3 is when it comes to winning. And just how far Greivis Vasquez (and most other PGs) has to go before he’s in Paul’s league.