Chris Paul Quotations

You don't always have to be a leader and be as vocal as I am. I'm sure some people would love it if I didn't talk as much as I did.

I've been fortunate to be short my entire life. There's only one position I've ever had to play, and that's point guard. So I've always had to be that leader. And that was my job: you know, to talk.

I try to penetrate the lane like Steve Nash, pass like Jason Kidd, and handle the ball like Allen Iverson. Remember, I said 'try to'.

I grew up on games like Madden and NBA Jam, then moved on to NFL 2K on Dreamcast. The game I really loved was Virtua Tennis.

In everything I've done, I always just hated to lose more than I like to win.

One of the things you learn when you go overseas is how much a lot of the countries overseas really just like to enjoy life.

No matter where you put me, I don't care if it is North Carolina, Florida, California, New York City; I'm going to be who I am.

If my son is happy, then I am happy.

I'm a little brother. I've always been small. People have said I have a Napoleon complex. But I've always had to fight for everything that I have.

I play basketball to win a championship. That championship is everything to me. And thats what gets people to buy in to your brand - being a winner.

Family was real important in putting me on my path. I'm so blessed to come from a home with a mother and a father.

I always have said that the most valuable thing I have isn't money; it's my time.

From day one, since I was traded to the Clippers, the team has been amazing to not only me, but to my family.

I can dunk! I can dunk, and not just in NBA Live.

I love people. I hate to be by myself.

I have a Dominique Wilkins Hawks jersey that I still wear. That's probably my favorite one. What's funny is that I spend all this time collecting jerseys, and now people are out there collecting mine.

I love Polo. I have a lot of Ralph Lauren suits. I got Dolce, I got a little bit of everything. And my favorite thing about Ralph Lauren is that he puts the number three on a lot of his clothes, so I feel like it's meant for me.

Most of the time, if you ask a kid who's their best friend, it's usually a classmate or their neighbor or something, but for me, it was my granddad. Everybody knew him - they called him Mr. Jones.

I trust my wife more than I trust myself.

I realize that I'm not going to be doing interviews for the cover of 'GQ' for the rest of my life, know what I mean? I'm on TV because I play basketball really well.

I don't care what anybody says, there's nothing like the cultural influence of hip-hop. For me, hip-hop culture is involved in everything - it's in me, in who I am, in how I dress, how I talk. It's in my son and my wife.

Being from North Carolina, it's kind of slow-paced. There's not too much going on there, whereas in New Orleans, there's always something going on. I just love all the people, going out to dinner and enjoying anything I want.

I was in the process of having a house built in English Turn,

I felt like it but it doesn't matter. They call it how they see it and that's their job. Our job is to try to score points.

I'm anxious to see what the atmosphere's going to be like, ... It was pretty wild for the preseason games, but I'm sure they were saving some things for the opening night. I have no clue what it's going to be like. I just can't wait.

We told our kids that anything's possible. I'd be lying to you if I looked you in the eye and said we were going to come out here and beat Purdue. That's a great basketball team we just played.

Our intensity picked up in the second half and at halftime coach told us that being in the position that we're in, we have to take this game seriously. I thought we buckled down defensively in the second half. We talked more. We got deflections. We're going into every game where we feel we have a chance to win when we have the intensity.

It gives the team a lot of momentum. Guys are just playing with confidence day in and day out.

We were here a couple of days early, so I went over to a gym with him and we took shots and he didn't miss many. If you leave him open, you're in trouble. So the best bet is not to leave him open.

We are digging ourselves a big hole in these games. Maybe what we need is to have a reality check, and fall out of the playoffs, and (realize) that the playoffs can be taken away from us.

We're just trying to adjust to not having him out there.

Those free throws were huge. I was nervous. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't.

We are really trying to make a run to the playoffs right now. I feel like if we just win and take care of that stuff, those accolades will come.

We really buckled down when we had to. I think P.J. Brown 's steal was the play of the game.

We're young. We like to run. J.R. and those guys, they want to dunk and I want to see 'em dunk. So it works out great.

Unbelievable. I told him to keep shooting and don't hesitate. When he shoots with confidence, he's a great shooter.

Every game from here on out is a must-win. One loss could really be big for us.

I've been saying all along that eventually it will happen (the triple-double) and thankfully, we got a win tonight to go along with it.

The third quarter did us in once again. We gave up 33 points in the third, and we couldn't get a rebound late in the game. Seventy-nine games into the season, we should have learned to adjust by now. It's a tough loss, but we have to keep playing hard because you don't what is going to happen.

When you find yourself down 21 after one half, that's a pretty big hill to come back from. However, I felt our kids battled all the way to the end and never gave in. The score ends up a little closer than it should have been, but that's a credit to our kids not giving up.

We scored 31 points in the first quarter tonight, then 28 in the second half. The zone bothered us like it has throughout the season -- we couldn't make shots.

We had a great team this year. A lot of people talked about us being good next year, but we thought we could make a run deep in the tournament this year, so it's tough to take.

This is huge for our confidence. We're in a tough situation right now where we are trying to fight for the eighth spot in the playoffs. We knew we had Detroit coming up so we really needed this one.

I know Winston-Salem, and I felt like the sooner I could do something, the better. I feel like I know everyone in Winston-Salem. If I don't know them, someone in my family knows them. If I'm going to be home, it's the least I can do.

Incredible. It was really tough to lose this one. The fans went above and beyond and were really motivated to help us. Our team is still part of New Orleans. We've still got New Orleans on our jerseys.

I'm not surprised. Charlie has been this great of a basketball player since we were in high school. He can dribble the ball up the court, pass, shoot -- everything.

I'm planning on it unless I wake up Friday morning and I can't walk. Hopefully, that won't be the case.

Oh, my goodness, it was unreal. When he had 62, my mom called.

It's been unbelievable. To see how great we were playing and see how we've now sort of bottomed out. We've got to find some energy from somewhere to pick it up.

They compare us so much. You hear an analyst saying I'm better than him, and another saying he's better than me. You take that in because that's my competitive nature.

I love taking that shot. The shot clock's running down, you're just out trying to make a play and fortunately the shot went in.

Hopefully I'll be part of the team when it's announced.

Hopefully I'll be part of the team when it's announced. That's one of the best honors you can have to play for your country.

They beat us from start to finish. They came out aggressive and we were back on our heels.

It was a big win for us. We have Miami coming in on Wednesday, and we lost two in a row.

It just seemed like we were scoring and they were scoring, we were scoring and they were scoring. And it can't be like that. We realize that we can score at times at will, but at the same time they were scoring every time.

It'll be my first opportunity to play in New Orleans. I'm excited to get there and show the fans of New Orleans that we still play for them. Plus it's a huge game for us; the Lakers are fighting for a playoff spot, so we need to pick it up and sneak out with a win.

Keep practicing. Never let someone tell you you're too small or too slow.

Every now and then you're going to get beaten, but we work hard.

You can replace houses. You can't replace people. I mean, it's left me speechless. I was talking to P.J. (Brown) about it. When the storm hit, I just kept it on CNN and watched the whole thing. Just seeing Canal Street, knowing I was there just a few days before storm and seeing all those stores I went in being under water. Unbelievable.

Exercise and good nutrition helped make me what I am today and are critical in allowing me stay on top of my game.

I hate losing more than I like winning

For me, it's all about who you are. Some athletes may feel a responsibility. Some may not. One thing I've talked with my family and team about is doing more. Trying to make an impact.

You only get a chance to live your dream once, and I'm living mine right now.

We showed why road games have been tough for us throughout this year. That's where we've got to get better. It's a learning experience.

Being close ain't good enough.

Ive been fortunate to be short my entire life. Theres only one position Ive ever had to play, and thats point guard. So Ive always had to be that leader. And that was my job: you know, to talk.

Whatever I have to do to help us win, I'll do.

For me, hip-hop culture is involved in everything - it's in me, in who I am, in how I dress, how I talk. It's in my son and my wife.

The least amount of buttons [in suit], the better. If you have to go with three, you can go three. But all that eight-button stuff? Nuh-uh, not a fan.

What I really try to do is take different pages out of different players books.

I'm not the greatest long-distance shooter, I know that. But I know if I can get around that free-throw line area, a lot of times you've just got to hope I miss.

That's the great thing about big cities: Nobody is judging. You really get a chance to show who you are with your style.

I need energy every day. Whether I'm leaving home and going to practice or getting in the car with my two kids to take my son to school - I need all the energy I can get.

I had never been to Oklahoma City before. I had no clue. Just heard there were a lot of tornadoes.

I've been a winner my whole life.

Obviously I want the fragrance to smell good. I tell people all the time that when you see someone there can obviously be a physical attraction, but scent is something that stays with you. It's something that you remember about a person.

Im still getting more familiar with the plays and different things, but I think that will come along with getting more experience and getting to know the guys better.

I always tell D-West, 'We're the leaders on the team, and if we go down, we've got to go down shooting.'

I've always been vertically challenged. I never grew at all until my junior year of high school-if you call that growing.

Sometimes the fans are too nice.

It's a business now. But you still have little butterflies in your stomach before every game.

Even today a lot of people know me because of my grandfather.

We wanted to impress the crowd so much. The city has done so much for us and welcomed us right in, and we just wanted to give them a good show and show them that we're going to play for them. I think guys just had a little bit of jitters.

I was always into sports games. Never really played anything else. I grew up on games like Madden and NBA Jam.

People have said I have a Napoleon complex. But I've always had to fight for everything that I have.

I'm not much into anything too flashy.

Anything can happen. As long as we have a chance, we're going to keep fighting and keep playing.

It's a great time just to get away for a little while and give my shoulder and my ribs time to heal.

Everyone I meet seems to have season tickets.

They know if they want the ball from me, be nice.

We missed (21) straight shots. You can't win games if you go through stretches like that. I don't know what the cause of it was. We had a lot of open shots but they just wouldn't go in. I guess that is how it is sometimes in the NBA. We just couldn't hit a thing. We were even going to the free-throw line and missed shots from there.

It was a tough game. Golden State gave us a run for our money once again, just like last week. We're just happy we could pull it out.

We have a bunch of guys on this team who want to be here and everybody has confidence in each other. It's not like we're going out every game hoping that we can win. I think we're going into every game now with the confidence pretty much knowing that we can win.

This is the Mecca of basketball, New York City. You can't hope to play well at a better place than this.

He plays real low to the floor and (is) able to change directions all the time and keep you off balance. The thing that makes him so diverse is he's able to score, but at the same time, he's a pure point guard. He can find his teammates and make the right pass.

The least we could do is go out and play as hard as we can. We feel like we owe a lot to this city and the state of Oklahoma for accepting us.