WORDS Tenere Williams

There are successful people and then there is “that guy.” While you were third team all-league on your high school basketball team, that guy was a McDonald’s High School All-American. While you spent last summer thinking about what you want to do with your life, he was at a little event called the Olympics winning a gold medal. While your highest bowling score is 180, his is 256. You framed the autographed Michael Jordan poster you bought off Ebay. He has Jordan’s autograph too…on his checks!

Yup, New Orleans Hornets All-Star point guard Chris Paul is…“that guy”. That guy whose star just shines brighter than the rest. But make no mistake about it, Chris Paul’s realization of the American Dream isn’t just a gift from the heavens. It has come with a lot of hard work and dedication. And as blessed as his life has been, the 23-year old North Carolina native is very focused on being a bigger blessing to others less fortunate than he. His CP3 Foundation supports causes such as Feed the Children, Habitat for Humanity and Make-A-Wish Foundation to name a few.

We caught up with Chris Paul recently to speak to him about his career, the Olympics, and his hot new Jordan Brand shoe, the CP3.II.

Besides trying not to get trampled by Chinese fans chasing Kobe Bryant, what was the biggest thing you had to adjust to culturally while in Beijing for the Olympics?
Everything was top flight security. There wasn’t really anything you could do without security. It didn’t matter if you were an athlete or not, if you didn’t have a ticket for that particular event, you couldn’t get in. One day, a bunch of us went over to the tennis matches and we had the wrong ticket for the wrong session and they wouldn’t let us in.

You have a shoe deal with Jordan Brand. It’s known that Michael Jordan is very picky about who represents his image. How did you feel when you found out you would be one of the faces of Team Jordan?
It was an unbelievable honor. Growing up in North Carolina, all you think about day in and day out is MJ…you know, I wanna be like Mike. Growing up, everyone wanted to wear Jordans. I know many a time when a pair of Jordans may have just been a birthday gift by itself because Jordans are expensive. Sometimes my parents would be like, “Oh no, you can’t get those.” Now, to have an unbelievable abundance of Jordans and to have my own shoe is something.

What was it like meeting Jordan in person for the first time?
The first time I met him was in high school when I played in MJ’s High School All-Star game. When I walked in—and I tell MJ this all the time—I said, “This is the darkest man I think I’ve ever seen in my life.” [Laughs]. Nah, I’m kiddin’. But I almost had goose bumps…I mean, I did have goose bumps. I couldn’t believe I was actually meeting him and I couldn’t believe he knew who I was. It’s a confidence booster for me that arguably the greatest player to ever play the game trusts me and believes in me enough to let me be part of his team.

Your second signature shoe, the Jordan CP3.II, due out in Spring of 2009, is inspired by the sport of futsal, the globally popular 5-on-5 indoor soccer game. Did you ever play soccer growing up?
I played in elementary school. I was the kid who kicked the ball ahead of everyone else and ran it down because I was faster than everyone else.

Manu Ginobili showed that Latin American players can not only compete in the NBA but can achieve All-Star status. With a recent influx of young, talented Latin American players, who in your opinion has a chance to become the next Latino NBA All-Star?
I think everyone has potential but I’m a huge [Leandro] Barbosa fan. The way he plays the game—with his speed—he can really go. But Manu isn’t really slowing down too much so he should be able to carry the reins for a while.

I saw the bowling benefit you recently had for your foundation, The CP3 Foundation, that included fellow NBA stars LeBron James and Dwayne Wade. Where did the love of bowling come from?
My dad used to be in leagues when my brother and I were younger and our family would go to the bowling alley a lot. It became one the things we did as a family. Then, in college, Wake Forest started having a bowling night and we got more and more attached to it. Soon it became a full on sport. Now it’s not something we do for fun, it’s very competitive.

LeBron has a bowling alley at his house and since you guys are all pretty intense competitors, could you set up a league made up of NBA players?
It would be hard to set up a league with the long season and with the off-season not being that long. But maybe every now and then when you go on the road you might meet up with a guy and go bowling.

Who else in the NBA is a good bowler?
Gilbert Arenas is pretty good. My teammate Julian Wright. Dwight Howard is supposed to be pretty good. Elton Brand and Michael Redd also talk a pretty good game.

You live in the same complex as New Orleans Saints star running back Reggie Bush. Did you ever get together to watch his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, when she was on Dancing with the Stars?
No, I never got a chance to see it with Reggie.

What celebrity have you met that you were surprised wanted to meet you?
Last year I met Forest Whitaker. I also met Snoop Dogg a couple days ago for the first time at a Lil Wayne concert in New Orleans. I’m a fan and, you know, I was trying to get close to him to introduce myself and he was like, “Man, nice to meet you.” That was great because on his show [Fatherhood], he’s worn my jersey a few times.

What’s your most embarrassing moment on the basketball court?
Probably with the USA Basketball Team in 2006. We were in China and Peja Stojakovic was at the game with Vlade Divac. We had just acquired him [Peja] but we hadn’t met. I was taking the ball out of bounds. When the referee had handed me the ball to throw in, I thought my teammate had passed me the ball. So I just dribbled it right onto the court and we turned it over. Peja always grills me about that.

Being an NBA star, you draw a lot of attention from female fans. What’s the craziest thing a female fan has done to meet you?
Nothing too crazy. A lot of times it’s a lot of yelling and screaming. Sometimes you may go to meet somebody and you shake their hand and when you pull your hand back there’s a piece of paper in your hand.

You’re known to let other NBA players stay at your house when they’re in town. Have you ever lost a tough game and been like, “You can’t stay here tonight!”?
Nah, when teams play against us, they leave that night.

But if they were to come to you and say “Hey, can I stay an extra night?”
Yeah, then I’d probably change my mind!

Chris Paul’s Jordan CP3.II shoe will be released nationwide on March 14, 2009. Please visit www.Jumpman23.com for additional information.

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