To mentor or to hoop? That is the question

'It’s very simplistic: Be Chris Paul. That's all I want.'

Photo courtesy of SS&E

The sight of Chris Paul in a Spurs uniform still feels like an optical illusion — a union of previously warring factions that seems impermissible, perhaps according to a kind of long-lost doctrine written after one of the many playoff battles between San Antonio and the now 39-year-old point guard.

“I despised Chris for many years,” Gregg Popovich said Monday morning at media day, speaking for both himself and no doubt many of the fans who love his team.

Paul, upon catching wind of the sentiment from his old foe and new coach, couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, it’s mutual,” he cracked back before yours truly could finish asking the question.

There is a modicum of truth in the stories of animus they share — a whole, heaping modicum — but the reality is they’ve long respected one another from afar. And now, they need each other.

For the Spurs, Paul and fellow offseason acquisition Harrison Barnes represent the types of grownups in the room San Antonio was destined to pursue this summer in an effort to prop up what had been the youngest team in the league with consummate professionalism. For CP3 (who can still be referenced as such following a peaceful acquisition of the No. 3 jersey from Keldon Johnson), it represents a chance to continue a career he can’t quit.

“Playing. You know what I mean? I know that sounds really generic, but I think for me at this point, being my 20th season, being away from my family — I love to play basketball, and if I'm going to be away from my family, then I wanted to be meaningful,” Paul said. “I want to play, I want to compete, and this was the best opportunity to do that.

“And knowing this organization, and knowing Pop, and knowing the resources that they have, I felt like this would be the best fit.”

Paul knows the road ahead, too. He understands it’s unlikely he’ll ever get to float in a San Antonio River parade in late June, and may not even get to chase that elusive first title at this point. But there’s a certain peace in finding balance, and it seems the surefire Hall-of-Famer has found it in basketball and life. In the constant search for narratives, we can get lost in the “mentor or hooper” conversations when the answer to the question is probably just another question: Why can’t it be both?

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There exists a middle ground, somewhere between the land of the ring chasers and Udonis Haslem getting paid to be a player-coach for years at the end of Miami’s bench. In theory — and this is the case in many professions — the best employees are the ones capable of teaching while still working, whether that’s via the hands-on approach or simply leading by example.

“It looks like it always looks: You hoop, you play, you talk, you communicate. I think that's what we’ve done playing pickup and training, getting ready for camp to start,” Paul said. “There's a building phase and a process to it, but I'm sure anybody on the team will tell you we want to learn and build and try to win at the same time.”

Pop and the front office appreciate this mindset; they wouldn’t have hired Paul in the first place if they didn’t.

“I remember when I first spoke to him and Harrison (Barnes) … he wanted to know, ‘Pop, what do you expect from me?’” Popovich said. “It’s very simplistic: Be Chris Paul. That's all I want, for him to be Chris Paul and play like he's always played. I probably won't coach him a lick.

“I'm just going to try to infuse what our strategy is and how we play, what we're doing — as much information as I can. But he's going to play, and be Chris Paul.”

And boy, have the Spurs needed a Chris Paul.

Last season, San Antonio was among the worst in the league executing offense against pressure (.755 points per possession), after made baskets, dead balls and timeouts (.950 ppp), and in the waning moments of close games (101.9 points per 100 “clutch” possessions). I don’t think I have to break down where these numbers rank leaguewide, but here’s one example just for the hell of it: The Spurs scored .734 points per possession when facing the press and moving into half-court offense, which was in the zeroth percentile, per Synergy data. Did you know “zeroth” was a word? I’m pretty sure it means “guidance needed.”

“We had a lot of games last year where we were up 15 or 10 points, and they went on a run. And then by the time we woke up and stopped it, it was a wrap and we lost a lot of games like that,” Zach Collins said. “So just having him to calm everyone down, and when teams do go on a run, I feel like we can trust him to get a great shot every time. We haven’t had that before, so just that in itself is going to be huge.”

And then there’s the Victor Wembanyama of it all — priority número uno with a bullet, and the primary consideration in any and all transactions for the foreseeable future. San Antonio has valued the challenges he’s faced both in the NBA during his rookie season and in the Olympics over the summer, but it also quickly realized it’s already time to do everything it can to make life easier for the 20-year-old extraterrestrial.

“(Paul) is a player I can actually remember watching as a kid, and I'm really excited. In just only the week we’ve spent here with him, all of this, we learned a lot … the way he's trying his best to fit with us and to teach us from day one,” Wembanyama said. “To me, it is really important, because you have it or you don't. He has it. He has this will to transmit to us.”

There’s an alien-transmission joke in there somewhere but it’s too early in the season to resort to such corniness.

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Even considering the brief moment of (bleep)-talk to kick off his media availability, Popovich has always admired Paul’s ability to control a game, almost as much as he’s valued having an extension of himself on the floor. From Avery Johnson to Tony Parker to Dejounte Murray, and even to the cerebral Tre Jones, San Antonio has always had an intelligent operator running the show. And as unique and accomplished as those guys were in their own rights, Paul is in a class of his own, relatively speaking.

“He was always difficult to play against because he's not just the consummate competitor, but he's a clever, clever, clever player. His IQ is off the charts — he was thinking ahead of all us coaches, and he does that in a winning way,” Popovich said. “So he's one of those guys you learn to hate to play against, but at the same time, you respect hell out of him. You're almost honored to be on the same court so you can watch him do his thing.

“So to have him working in our family is pretty special,” he continued. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think about having the opportunity to watch him on a day-to-day basis.”

The hope is, through precision-based CP3 pick-and-rolls, shooters getting great looks from their spots, a few Wemby lobs, and an overall calming influence, the rest of the team will be pinching itself, too.

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