Warriors' Only Goal is Chris Paul's First Championship
The Golden State Warriors only have one goal this season: Win Chris Paul his first championship.
The former Phoenix Suns point guard nearly accomplished that in 2021, when the team was up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks before ultimately falling in six games.
That's the closest Paul ever got to a championship, but now he finds himself on a Warriors squad that has won four NBA titles since 2015 with two other appearances in the Finals as well.
Golden State is undoubtedly the gold standard, and Warriors big man Draymond Green says the new goal is to get CP3 his first ring:
"I look at this as one of the most important years of my career," said Green in an interview with ESPN. "... It's not to redeem anything about Draymond. My goal is that we can help Chris Paul get his first championship."
The history between Green and Paul has been well documented, and not in the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson way. The two sides genuinely despised each other during their numerous clashes.
Green said on a scale of 1-10, "11" was how much he hated Paul.
Paul now accompanies a backcourt with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and Green couldn't be more excited.
"A guy that's at the center of everything," Green said of Paul. "At the center of every play, what the other team is running at the center of their defense, talking on both ends of the floor, working the referees, working our coach, working players in the middle of every tussle. Battling. Elbowing. Nasty.
"... Of course you're going to hate him [as an opponent]. And if you don't, guess what? You'll lose to him. We've seen a bunch of guys lose to him as well."
Warriors executive Mike Dunleavy Jr. said the decision was discussed with the Warriors' trio of stars before the trigger was pulled.
Now, Paul and Green will have to learn how to play with each other on the court:
"We've kind of gotten over that hump now," Green said. "But then there'll be another hump of actually playing together that'll take some getting used to. But I'm excited about it.
"We've gotten together as a team, we've kicked it together and the vibe feels great. And I'm a student of the game of basketball and Chris Paul is a master, and I'm looking forward to learning from him."
The Warriors host the Suns to begin the NBA regular season on Oct. 24.
