Mavs Dance Party Has An Unlikely Fan in Chris Paul

In one sense, everybody inside the Orlando Bubble - 35 people per team, times 22 times - is in this together. Sure, it's the Dallas Mavericks against the Oklahoma City Thunder, for instance. But it can also be the Mavs behavior earning a seemingly unlikely fan in Chris Paul.

Chris Paul said he thought the Mavs' balcony dance party was the best social media post he's seen so far: "To see them outside doing that, having a good time, the more we have those type of interactions and experiences I think the better we'll make this."
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 11, 2020

"To see them outside doing that, having a good time,'' said Paul, praising the Dwight Powell-orchestrated dance video as the best example he's seen of anybody making the best of the situation, "the more we have those type of interactions and experiences I think the better we'll make this."

The @dallasmavs out here creating Disney World's No. 1 social distancing dance club. 🎧 🕺 😂

(🎥: IG/maximilian.kleber) pic.twitter.com/2CBslkrgjv
— theScore (@theScore) July 9, 2020

Paul's praise of the Mavs balcony party at Walt Disney World, shared by Mavs big man Maxi Kleber and now gone-viral, makes sense when you realize his other role. In addition to being a long-time Mavs foe, Paul is currently the president of the National Basketball Players Association. That means he is in part charged with some responsibility of helping to pull all of this together, and to bring people together, in a COVID-19 time and also at a time of social unrest.

Rajon Rondo doesn’t seem pleased with his Orlando room. pic.twitter.com/hjwB2g0tk8
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 9, 2020

Malcontents like Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers complaining about his hotel room (he has fellow complainers) do the NBA no favors here; the perception of professional athletes as spoiled brats is widespread enough without Rondo - who in his brief time in Dallas proved to be a cancerous locker-room presence - seemingly verifying fans' worst fears.

The Mavs seem to be here to do something to counteract that vibe. And Chris Paul, to his credit, is here for it.