Chris Paul's Focus is Winning, Not Union Issues
The MVP for this season is Chris Paul. No player in the NBA was more valuable to his team or the league.
LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis may sell more Jerseys and even win a championship, but without Paul's effort behind the scenes the there is no bubble. As President of the NBAPA, Paul worked tirelessly with Adam Silver to secure a safe way for the season to continue after a five and a half month layoff.
With the experience of the bubble being a brand new situation, players are sure to have daily, if not hourly, questions. Dealing with everything from why the food is dry to why can't we have Instagram models in our room could take up a significant amount of time.
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Not to say Paul isn't concerned about making his fellow union members happy, but advancing the Thunder in the playoffs is his number one priority.
"My focus right now is to help win games for our team," Paul the NBAPA President says he does have to deal with other players' feedback on being in the bubble; however, winning comes first.
One of the more uncomfortable aspects of the Disney campus is seeing your competition in the halls of your hotel every day. The atmosphere is being described as an AAU tournament for grownups.
As awkward as that may sound, imagine being in Paul's shoes, and your first-round opponent is the team that traded you a year ago. Nothing like dealing with your former teammates to amp up the adrenaline.
Paul was asked about having to see the Rockets regularly and said, "Everybody at your hotel, you see em daily.".."That's part of the experience, and yeah." No further elaboration was needed.
If game one's tail kicking was enough to motivate the Thunder, then let's hope the constant site of the Rockets having more fun in Orlando will.
Thunder/Rockets Tuesday at 2:30 on Fox Sports Oklahoma and 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.
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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.
