Poor Chris Paul can’t even enjoy the NBA Finals without being peppered with questions related to his future. The speculation began immediately after Paul posted what many believed to be a farewell video to the fans of Oklahoma City.
On Sunday, as the Los Angeles Lakers battled the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the 2020 NBA Finals, Paul briefly joined the broadcast, seemingly to entertain a discussion on how the NBPA’s efforts to increase voter turnout are going, but Jeff Van Gundy took the opportunity to ask Paul one of the league’s most burning questions.
“Chris, you had like, a quietly MVP type of year and your team absolutely overachieved. I was wondering how content are you to play your twilight years in the NBA in what could be a rebuilding situation?” Van Gundy asked.
By this point, Paul has perfected the art of saying a lot without saying anything. To Van Gundy’s credit, it was a great question, but walked the fine line of insinuating that he would be fine with remaining in Oklahoma City while stopping short of saying that he actually wanted that to be the case.
Paul stated:
“I just love to hoop, I just love to hoop. Coach Billy Donovan was amazing, my teammates were great, Sam Presti’s been amazing since I got there. So for me, you call it ‘twilight years,’ I call it a blessing just to be able to compete at a high level at 35 years old. I’m just gonna keep rolling,” Paul responded.
Nonetheless, there’s been endless speculation as to whether Paul has played his final game as a member of the Thunder. While he did seem to embrace the prospect of continuing along in Oklahoma City, he stopped short of saying that the relationships he’s developed there or the connection with the franchise leads him to actually want to remain with the club.
"Man, I just love to hoop. … You call it twilight years, I call it a blessing."
—Chris Paul on potentially playing for a rebuilding franchise at this point in his career pic.twitter.com/QUurJcuoY3
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 5, 2020
As always, he found a diplomatic way to straddle the line, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Better luck next time, Van Gundy.