Now in his 23rd NBA season and nearing 41 years old, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is the oldest active player in the NBA. And the second oldest player in the league is James’ good friend Chris Paul, who is also 40 years old and currently the backup point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Paul recently announced that this year, his 21st in the league, would be his final one as he will be retiring at the end of the season. This of course has led to many coming out and reflecting on what has been an outstanding career that will see Paul inducted into the Hall of Fame once he is eligible.
Paul surely has some goals and ideas in mind for what he wants out of this final year, but LeBron does too. And most of all, the Lakers’ superstar simply wants Paul to get as much joy and happiness as he can out of this final run, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Happiness. Just be as happy as he possibly can. Don’t wanna look back when you’re done and be like ‘I was angry’ or ‘I didn’t take full advantage of’ your last year and things of that nature. I know he’s happy being back in L.A. with his family, seeing little CP, seeing his daughter, seeing what they’re doing I know that’s pretty special to him so I hope he can just get joy out of this final year. Like you said, we’ve known each other forever so, hell of a player, hell of a career. I could go on and on and on, but it’s awesome. He has nothing to hang his head about, he’s done pretty much everything that this league had to offer. Yeah, I just hope he just takes it all in. This is his last hoorah so we’ll never get this moment again once you’re done to be able to go out and be in an arena.”
As James noted, you never want to look back and wish you had done things differently or didn’t enjoy everything as much as you could have. This will be the last time Paul will be able to experience these things and he should really embrace these moments.
Of course, many are wondering when that final season is coming for LeBron and whether this year with the Lakers could be his last. But he has yet to reveal his intentions and with the level he continues to perform at, that final season could still be a couple years down the line.
Lakers coach JJ Redick discusses evolution of relationship with Chris Paul
Another member of the Lakers who has a close relationship with Chris Paul is head coach JJ Redick, who was a teammate of his with the Clippers for many years. But Redick revealed the two actually hated each other when Redick first entered the league, and broke down the evolution of their relationship that now has him considering the point guard as family.
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