Chris Paul shines against the Knicks in lone appearance at MSG
NEW YORK — On a night that was mostly boring at Madison Square Garden until the final few minutes of a blowout, Chris Paul certainly made a statement to the team that is reportedly interested in him, as tweeted by Frank Isola earlier this week.
Paul finished the contest with 21 points, 12 assists and three steals on 8-13 shooting, providing about as good of a "tryout" for the Knicks as could have been imagined.
As far as the Knicks? Well, the arena crew managed to steal the show, as for whatever reason there were snippets of loud alt rock hits from Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and others blaring on the Garden speakers down the stretch of a 126-103 blowout as a half-empty Madison Square Garden started "sell the team" chants.
So for now, all that really mattered was Paul, and the Garden crowd mostly treated the situation that way. Sure, the highlights from RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson got their usual cheers for most of the game, but when things truly got out of hand down the stretch Paul buried New York with six points and three assists on perfect 2-2 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Then began the real show after the game, where Paul was the star attraction and the Knicks' locker room was a media ghost town — at this point of a lost season, all that matters is the future, and Paul is a (older, yes) star player who has even the slimmest of chance of being a Knick this time next year. Paul first made sure to give the praise that most NBA stars give to the fans at Madison Square Garden.
“Yeah, I mean it’s strange because usually everywhere else it’s a boo," Paul said of his reception. "But you expect it here at the Garden, I think here in New York you have some of the best basketball fans there are. And one thing about it is they all obviously always go for the Knicks. But if you play hard and play the right way, they always respect it. It’s cool to play, and I hadn’t played here in 2-3 years, I’ve been injured, both times when I was with the Rockets. So I’ve been looking forward to it.”
Then Paul spoke about new Knicks President Leon Rose, his former agent, and confirmed the New York Post's Marc Berman's report that Paul does, in fact, "adore" Rose.
“Man, I’m so happy for him. I almost get emotional talking about it, because I went through a lot with him," Paul said of his relationship with Rose. "It’s bigger than an agent-player relationship, he’s like my family. So I found out when everyone else found out, today was my first time talking to him since. So I’m happy for him, wish him the best, and that’s it.”
Being the President of the NBA Players' Association, Paul of course skirted questions that could even come close to counting as tampering, declining to even really comment on whether he believes Rose will be good in his new role (which likely saved Rose a "welcome to the NBA" tampering fine).
“I don’t know," Paul said of Rose's ability to carry out the job. "I’m a player, obviously, I know sorta how the league goes. I don’t know anything about the team or anything. All I can do is root for him from afar and control what I can control with my team.”
That was about the end of the glamorous talk, however, as the subject changed to the dust-up between the Knicks and Spike Lee earlier in the week.
“I mean it’s Spike, I’ve known Spike for a while, man," Paul said. "Shoot, I talked to Spike a couple days ago, actually looking forward to him being here at the game to watch me play, because I hadn’t played here in two years."
And when talking about how the events at Madison Square Garden have affected players' desires to play for the Knicks, Charles Oakley's name can never help but come up.
“I don’t know about all that, I can’t speak for nobody else," Paul said about players' willingness to play for the Knicks. "I’ve been fortunate enough to know Oak, Oak is like my uncle. I’ve known Oak for years, I know Spike, I don’t know all the ins and outs so I can’t speak for other guys. But I have a relationship with those guys, so that’s that. It has nothing to do with whether we win or lose the game, that’s just life.”
Ultimately, Paul's fate as it pertains to him will not be up to him this summer regardless, as he has one more season on his contract that will likely turn into two when he picks up his $44.2 million player option for the 2021-22 season. But for this night, at least, Knicks fans got to cheer for him as if he was one of their own.
