Paul talked about his mindset heading into his first season with the Thunder with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All The Smoke: “The thing as a hooper is confidence…so when I went to Oklahoma, I had already started my training, so when the trade happened, I wasn’t tripping… I was more pissed about being away from the family,” Chris Paul said. “When I got to Oklahoma, I had to prove myself…Whether that’s the case or not, if the media puts you out there as somewhat washed, then people start to think that. I had to prove myself to my Thunder teammates, to my coaches, to everybody in the organization. I had to show that I could stay healthy. I had to prove all this stuff.”