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Phoenix Suns point god Chris Paul has been through a whole lot in his illustrious career. As it turns out, however, last season's first-round clash against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers happened to be one of the most insane experiences CP3 had in his 17-year tenure in the NBA.
In a recent episode of JJ Redick's The Old Man & The Three podcast, the Suns star revealed just how badly he was injured through the first few games of that particular series:
“I had some crazy injuries, you know,” Paul said. “This was probably one of the craziest ones because dribbling, that's what I do. Bubs, I would dribble and the ball wouldn't come back up.
“It was the scariest thing ever, like I would dribble, ‘Woah, why am I losing the ball?'”
Paul explained that the doctors had advised him that he suffered a stinger on his shoulder. He had to head to the locker room in the first half and in spite of the pain, the 11-time All-Star was able to return for the second half. Paul was in considerable pain, though, but he played a key role as the Suns drew first blood in Game 1.
By his own admission, CP3 could not even lift his arm in the succeeding games. He still played in Game 2 and Game 3, but it was clear that he was far from a hundred percent. According to Paul, he was surprised that the Lakers were even defending him:
“I don't even know why they was guarding me,” Paul continued. “I could not shoot it. I was faking the funk, though.”
Paul then went on to say that he felt much better prior to Game 4. The Lakers were up 2-1 in the series at that point and a win for LeBron and Co. would have doomed Phoenix's playoff run. CP3 wasn't even supposed to play but he somehow convinced Suns coach Monty Williams to let him suit up despite his injury.
Chris Paul ended up having his best performance of the series in Game 4, dropping 18 points and nine assists as Phoenix evened the series in Staples Center. The Suns ended up winning Games 5 and 6 and as we all know, they went all the way to the NBA Finals.
