by John Justus

“The accomplishments that I’ve had and honours I’ve received,
it’s nothing that I’ve done by myself.”

Chris Paul’s impact as a player for the New Orleans Hornets in his brief career in the NBA has been remarkable.

Although only 6’0” in height, he has had a giant effect on a team that prior to his arrival was among the least successful in the league, but now is contending for a spot among the NBA’s finest.

Away from basketball, Paul is producing equally impressive results in his hometown of Winston-Salem, NC, as well as his new Louisiana home, by giving back to both communities with his time, commitment, and personal finances.

And whether he’s battling more experienced stars of the NBA night after night on the playing floor or fighting poverty and social injustice away from the basketball court, the 22-year-old carries with him a faith that he is quick to credit with helping him achieve all that he has done — and intends to do in the future.

On the Court
The Hornets finished the 2004-05 season with a dismal 18-64 record. Only one NBA team had a poorer mark. But their fortunes turned in June of ’05 when they selected Paul with the fourth pick in that year’s NBA draft. Paul had earned consensus All-America honours as a sophomore at Wake Forest University, but few projected him to have the type of instant impact he enjoyed in his first year as a Hornet.

As a rookie point guard, Paul led his new team to 38 victories — 20 more than the previous season — even while their organization was contending with the shock of Hurricane Katrina, which had ravaged the Hornets’ home city of New Orleans and forced them to play “home” games in Oklahoma City. Paul was named NBA Rookie of the Year while leading all first-year players in points, assists, steals, and minutes played.

Last year, he improved his scoring to 17.3 points per game and ranked fourth among all NBA performers by averaging 8.9 assists per game. He missed 18 games due to injuries, however. The Hornets won only eight of those 18 contests, which proved costly when they were eliminated from NBA playoff contention in the season’s final week.

Now in the midst of his third year, Paul is playing as well as any point guard in the NBA. Chosen NBA Western Conference player of the month for December, he’s currently averaging 21.6 points per game and is third in the league in assists (10.3 per game). More importantly, his Hornets are battling the world champion San Antonio Spurs and other elite teams for the best record in the NBA Western Conference. His success has not surprised Hornet coach Byron Scott.

“At a workout before the 2005 draft, we brought Chris in by himself and my first impression was ‘Wow,’” Scott told Sports Spectrum magazine. “Both as a player and as a person, I could tell he was one of a kind.”

In the Community
Just as he has wasted little time in making a difference as a basketball player, Paul has not waited to be a positive influence in his hometown of Winston-Salem and his new home of New Orleans.

Paul has established the “CP3 Foundation” (he has always worn the jersey number ‘3’), which held its inaugural “Chris Paul’s Winston-Salem Weekend” in the fall of 2006. That event raised more than $150,000 for the Nathaniel Jones Scholarship Fund, named in honour of Paul’s late grandfather, which will award a student in his native Forsyth County a scholarship to attend Wake Forest.

This past September, that same three-day affair featured a ceremony where Paul, joined by numerous teammates and other NBA players, dedicated a house to “Habitat for Humanity.” And he gave more than just money. Paul was at the house, helping with the actual work as it was being built. Other activities of the 2007 event included food distribution to 500 needy families, reading to youngsters at an area elementary school, and a youth basketball clinic.
In New Orleans, Paul has been closely involved with several philanthropic projects, including the Hornets’ “Reach to Achieve” program, a special Thanksgiving project where turkeys were distributed to those in need, and an effort to purchase bicycles for children displaced by Katrina.

The Hornets have recognized Paul’s importance as they move back to New Orleans fulltime this season, featuring him on billboards, television commercials, and other advertising. A team spokesman has said that nearly two-thirds of the requests that the franchise receives for player appearances and autographs involve Paul. It’s something that the young superstar does not try to neglect. “Expanding our fan base (in New Orleans) is all about playing hard every night and winning games,” Paul says. “As far as the city goes, we just have to continue to give back and keep reaching out to the community. “You don’t do it for the recognition. You do it out of the kindness of your heart.”

Every professional basketball player is in a position to give back to his community, his hometown, his former school, his church. Few actually follow through. Chris Paul does so out of a strong faith that was nurtured by Christian parents and grew through the support of his Winston-Salem church home, Dreamland Park Baptist Church.
“The accomplishments that I’ve had and honours I’ve received, it’s nothing that I’ve done by myself,” he says. “I have been blessed so much and this is all God’s doing.

“Obviously, I am very thankful for the ability He has given me and the opportunity to play basketball, but I know that as quickly as it comes it can be taken away. I am so thankful that my parents raised me to depend on God’s guidance and faith in Him. “I also know that God has a plan for me and it’s up to me to follow His direction.”

Being paid millions of dollars to play the sport he loves, Chris Paul could easily be prideful and rely on his own talents and the riches those talents have provided him. Instead, he is using his gifts and rewards to bring success to a team that has rarely known it, and hope to many who may otherwise have never shared it.

photo courtesy New Orleans Hornets