June 23, 2023 • 25 mins
Ron welcomes NBA greats Chris Paul who discusses his career and new book and legend Clyde Drexler to the show.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Ron Barr, and this is today's edition of
Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast on the eight Side Network.
Certainly a name all basketball and sports fans know, Chris
Paul joins us on Sports Byline. He's a multi time
All Star and a two time Olympic gold medalist who's
considered one of the greatest point guards of all time.
(00:20):
He has served as president of the NBA Players Association,
and he's headed to the Hall of Fame. Off the court,
Chris is a father, husband, entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist. And
over the years, I've gotten a lot of books about
sports and life, and I have more than eleven hundred
sports book author interviews in the Sports Byline Book Corner library.
(00:40):
But the one Chris Paul has written is about his life,
the way he lives his life, and the influences that
have shaped his life. We're going to make it a
selection of the Month in the Sports Byline Book Corner
and it's called sixty one Life Lessons from Papa On
and Off the Court. First of all, Chris, you grew
up in Winston Salem, North Caroline. Now tell me a
(01:00):
little bit about that city and growing up there.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, First of all, thanks so much for having me Ron,
I really appreciate it. For me, growing up in Winston Salem,
North Carolina, it was the best thing ever. You know,
I grew up around all my family. I lived in
the same house my entire childhood, so I grew up
around all my same friends. My hometown, well, all of
(01:29):
that sort of North Carolina is known as Tobacco Road,
so all of my grandparents worked at bacco and so
I grew up with a lot of discipline. I grew
up very faith faith based Baptist church. I grew up
going to and grew up with a lot of love
(01:51):
for my family.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Your grandfather was certainly a pioneer. He operated the first
black owned service station in North Carolina, and you and
your brother worked there in the summer. What did that
instill in you.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Oh man. First of all, it instilled a strong dislike
for my parents because we didn't want to go all
the time. You know, seriously, as kids, you know, you
want to go to the gym, you want to go
to the park, you want to go do something. But
a lot of times our weekends were going to my
granddad's service station and it was working. It was working.
(02:28):
It was sort of the entire family's business. So it
be Saturday morning sometimes when we'd be at the service
station at seven am, you know, standing out there waiting
for people to pull in so that we could punk
gas and rotate tires and check people's old you know.
And what you don't always appreciate as a kid is
(02:48):
that is just showing you the value of doing the work.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
You attribute many of the life lessons you've learned to
your grandfather and have described him as your best friend.
What is it that you remember most about him, Chris
oh Man, It's.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So many good memories, but it's one of those things
where I lost my grandmother when I was seven. I
talk about it in the book. I lost my grandmother
to lung cancer. And after she passed, I used to
always try to get my granddad to move in with us, right,
just Papa, I'll come live with us, don't you you lonely?
Don't you just come be with us? Come be with us.
(03:27):
And so I found myself just spending time with them
all the time. And then when my brother went away
to college, me and my grandfather even spent more time
together because it's just me and my brother so I
wanted to be with my granddad, and so it was.
It was just a different type of love, a different
(03:48):
type of love. And now that I have kids in
my own and my son is actually in North Carolina
with my parents right now, and my dad sends a
picture of them two the other day, it's really special
because my dad is nowhere near his hard on my
son as he is as he was on me. But
(04:10):
there's a piece of me who even though I get
mad at my dad, sometimes I'll be like, hey man,
hey be hard on him too. But then that's just
cease for me to get to it, because I understand
the relationship is different.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Chris, at a young age, you and your family had
to deal with tragedy during a robbery at the service station.
Your papa was robbed and assaulted, and he passed away
from a heart attack. He was just sixty one. How
did you assimilate that loss of your best friend.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, so at that age, at seventeen, losing my grandfather
the way that I did, you know, to him not
passing away like a natural causes, knowing that he had
been murdered by five teenagers, it was hard to process.
It was hard to process too, because I'm very visual.
So I remember pulling up to the scene and seeing
(05:00):
my grandfather laid out in his carport. Didn't know what
to do, didn't know how to react, and so thankfully
I have a lot of family, a whole lot of family,
And there were conversations and a lot of crying, a
lot of tears, but somehow, someway, we figured out how
(05:22):
to bounce back.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
In the book, you tell a wonderful story, Chris about
how you honored him in an opening season game in
high school. Share that with us.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah. So, my grandfather was murdered on November fifteenth, two
thousand and two. November nineteenth was his funeral. November twentieth
was the first game of my senior year, and I
went out and scored sixty one points for every year
(05:56):
that he had lived, and I had fifty nine points.
I drove into the lane, shot a floater and got filed,
and I remember just laying there on the floor just
thinking like, man, I cannot believe I did this. I
cannot believe I really achieved this. And then I went
to the free throw line because I got filed, and
I just threw the ball out of bounds and I
(06:18):
walked off the court and fell into my dad's arms,
and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
We're talking with Chris Paul. The name of the book
is and I urge you to check it out, sixty
one Life Lessons from Papa On and off the court. Chris,
you also talk about life beyond basketball and the role
your grandfather played in molding you into the man and
the father you are today. What were those lessons learned
from him?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh? Man, he taught me a lot. My dad taught
me a lot. My grandfather also taught me about discipline.
He taught me about discipline. He taught me about the
importance of family. He taught me importance of love. You know,
he taught me the importance of community. Right. So, it
(07:06):
was a group of guys called Jones Jones's Disciples that
came and sat at my granddad's service station every day.
Majority of the time, well almost never did they get
anything worked on by their car. They literally just sat
out there and talked about everything that was going on
in the world and the city and everything. And what's
(07:28):
funny is I have a similar relationships like they had
with the guys that I grew up with in a
group chat of all my guys from back home, and
you just realize how necessary those relationships are.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
There have also been other influences and lessons learned in
your life. I know your college basketball coach, Skip Prosser,
other coaches, your parents, and other pro superstars.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
What is the.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Common theme, Chris, that you've learned from all of them?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The common thing that I've learned from all of them.
One of the biggest things is gratitude. It's gratitude and
any and everything that you do, you must have gratitude.
Another thing is, you know, you just can't take yourself
too serious sometimes. You know, you got to really enjoy
(08:24):
and cherish those around you and be grateful for them.
And you know results results may vary. You know, you
may win some, you may lose some, but just be
consistent with the work.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Let me ask you a little bit about basketball. Pro
sports certainly a different way of life, and correct me
if I'm wrong here, Chris. But the major thing you've
learned is also to have good balance in your life.
Am I right about that?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
You're exactly right about that, But I definitely know that's
that's always a tugging war for everybody. Exactly what is balance?
You know, it's so hard because on that day you
may have to pour all into this this cup. On
the day you might have to pour it into this
other cup. So I think we're all just trying to
(09:15):
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
One of the things I've always been amazed about is
expectations in the business of sports. In the business of basketball,
you're always judging on a moment or to a moment
game to game basis. How did you deal with that?
Because at the pro level it's a high expectation.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You know, expectations they come with it, right, It's part
of it's part of the job, it's part of why
he's doing. When you get to the professional level is
just at even higher magnitude. Right. So in any job,
for the most part, you know, you have certain barometers
(09:58):
that you need to meet in and you're evaluated. So
I think that's the same thing about sports. It's just
that both sports all over TV all day, every day,
so everyone and a lot of it.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Joe Morgan, the late Joe Morgan, was a good friend
of mine and we'd have long talks like you talked
about talking with your friends, And I remember him saying
to me one time, Chris that when you go zero
for four, remember the day you went four for four.
To have that kind of balance, do you do that
in basketball as well?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, you got to have a short memory. You've got
to have a short memory. Got to have a short
memory in sports because you know you could. You got
to have that confidence in yourself. You could lose. You
could miss five in a row and then easily just
make five in a row.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, when you look at your career and your
life and everything and you're moving toward a point where
at some point you'll walk off the court for the
last time, how do you assimilate what you've done and all? So?
How do you deal with the fact that pro basketball
and basketball in general may not be a part of
your life going forward?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Oh man, there's a realization where it comes, you know,
and your love for the game doesn't have to change.
But who knows, depending on you know what it is,
always try around the game. But when you've been blessed
and fortunate to play as long as I played, other
(11:31):
things started happening. And things started happening about fourteen years
ago when I had my first child. All right, so
I got a fourteen year old son, I got a
ten year old daughter who at some point, I mean
now even now, I'm I'm invested in everything that they do,
and that won't that won't change.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know, I think that when you do walk off
the court, that you're going to be better suited to
make the transition to retirement and something else else than
probably a lot of athletes. I mean, you know a
lot of athletes who haven't made that transition very well?
Am I right about that observation of you know what?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I hope?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I hope so. But I've been able to watch a
number of my friends, a number of people actually younger,
younger than me, that transition. And I have these conversations
with people, and a lot of people say, you know,
you can definitely transition into something else, but you know,
your love for the game, just amount of time I've
(12:32):
been playing it, you know that love just won't ever
go anywhere. But you know, life happens, things change, and
I guess we'll see. I still worry about myself a
little bit because I've been so passionate and golf with
the game for so long.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I have to ask you over your career, when you
think back on it, even now, at this time, what
was that aha moment? What is that moment that's engraved
in Chris Paul's mind that I'll never forget and.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Probably draft Knights. Probably draft Knight. You know, when you're
a kid and you playing around in the backyard, and
even when you in college and they tell you're gonna
be drafted and you know they tell you gonna be
a top five pick, sometimes you just you just still
can't believe it until it actually happens, because you know,
(13:23):
you may be right here and you're like, man, what
is gonna go wrong? Like what like is this really
going to happen? So that night, just to see the
look on my family's face, and especially my dad, you know,
I can't imagine what it felt like for my dad
being a lover of basketball the way that he was,
(13:44):
and to to know that, you know, he did everything
possible to give me and my brother that opportunity and
it happened.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
We only have about thirty seconds left. But what's the
best advice your grandfather or your dad has ever given you?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Oh? Man, I might sound like a probably, but just
important of family. You know, someone asked me one time,
they said, what is the one thing that I wish
my grandfather got a chance to see if it would
have been my first NBA bucket, if it would have
been a certain game that I played. I said no.
I think the thing my granddad would be the powtest
(14:25):
of is that my family is still intact. We all
still together, cousins, an uncles, everybody, we still are locked in.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
That is a great story on life in itself. I
want to congratulate you on your career, but also this book.
It's an outstanding book. It's called sixty one Life Lessons
from Papa on and off the court. And you're welcome
here anytime. Chris, I hope you come back and join
me on Sports Byline.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Thank you so much, Rob, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You're listening to Ron Bar's Sports Byline USA podcast. Fike
Drexler joining us on Sports Byline. Clyde, of course, initiated
into the Hall of Fame in his first year of
eligibility after playing fifteen outstanding seasons in the NBA, eleven
plus with the Trailblazers, three plus with the Rockets, where
he won a championship, and a fine career average of
better than twenty points, better than six rebounds, and nearly
(15:15):
six assists a game, and in nineteen ninety six he
was selected as one of the fifty greatest players in
NBA history.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
And he has a new.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Book out the obvious title Clyde the Glide.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Clyde, nice to have you with us.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And first of all, as you were being inducted into
the Hall of Fame, what went through your mind?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
What were your thoughts during that induction ceremony?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Oh, Ron, I'm delighted to be here today, first of all,
but I want to tell you anytime you even consider
it to be mentioned to go into the Hall of Fame,
it's an extremely high honor. But to actually make it
first ballot is a pipe dream. And I tell you
I've been dreaming ever since.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
When you take a look at your career, it was
not always easy. Where were the hurdles for you?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Until you find you found your stride in basketball than
anything in life.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Ron. You all know that the harder you work, the
better you become. Is never going to be easy. It
takes dedication, perseverance, the ability to believe in yourself. All
of those things come into play. But if you continue
to work at your crafts, I think good things can happen.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
The book Clyde The Glide. What was the motivation for
writing it?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
The motivation is I've never done a book, and I
read a lot of sportsbook I read a lot of
books in general, and I wanted to do a book
that so people would understand my thoughts as I was
going through my professional career and some of my personal
thoughts as well, in reflection on the game itself, in
today's game, the state of the NBA, on what kind
(16:41):
of changes should be made to make a better game,
Not that it's not great, but we want to continue
to show a wonderful product. And so I thought I
voiced a few opinions something I had never had the
opportunity to do.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
When you take a.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Look at what's happened to NBA players playing an international competition,
and I think no one would disagree with the fact
that they are the greatest skill, greatest athletic basketball players
in the world. But what happens to them when they
get into international play? Why can't they function as a
team as well as they might when they're playing NBA basketball.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Clyde, I like to tell you, I think this is
an isolated incident. When I was a member of the
original Dream team nineteen ninety two, Barcelona, Spain. The only
team capable are fit to be called the Dream Team.
The other teams should just be called Olympic teams. I'm biased,
of course i am. But at the same time, this
particular team. You hear people talking about having trouble playing
(17:33):
international basketball. Well, when we were winning bout thirty five
forty fifty points a game, you had no one saying
anything about the international rules. Now one thing, we just
put together a bad team, had bad chemistry. They did
not win. The European teams were better. Give them credit.
And next year for the next Olympics, let's just put
together a better team with better chemistry and we'll get
(17:56):
the goal.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Once again, I mentioned that you were selected as one
of the fifty great as players in NBA history, and
I'm just wondering, as you look at the other players
that are considered amongst the greats to play basketball, what
is the commonality Clyde, that you all all have.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I think a strong belief in our abilities from day one.
You have to believe in yourself because it all starts
with the belief. Anything that's ever been done starting with
someone believing that they could get it. Done, or at
least we're going to die trying. So it's a commitment.
You have to dare to be great. And if you
dare and if you practice and if you dedicate yourself,
(18:30):
good things can happen. But the commonality is they're spiritual,
they're good guys. They're pretty intelligent. Because basketball is not
like track and feel or weightlifting. It's not the strongest
of the fastest guy. You have to have skills, legitimate
basketball skills in order to be a good player. And
so there are only four hundred and four and fifty
jobs in the world in professional basketball, so there's a
(18:53):
lot of competition. You have to practice like you're going
against the best players in the world every single day
and find your game constantly, and your game has to evolve,
and all of that takes thought process, and that's why
you have to be intelligent.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
One of the things that I have found and correct
me if you think I'm wrong about this, Clyde, But
in talking to Michael Jordan and talking to Bill Russell
and others, they've all said that when the game is
on the line, that the truly great players want to
be the ones to determine the outcome. If they fail,
they'll take the blame. If they succeed, they want the glory.
And the other thing all of them have told me
is that they tend to make other players around them
(19:29):
better than they actually are. Would you agree or disagree?
Speaker 4 (19:32):
I would agree with that. And they also are great teammates.
And every one of that teams knows that they're are
committed to winning and would do anything to help any
one of their teammates. And so you can't be selfish.
You have to be the consummate team professional. And when
your teammates see you play in as hard as you are,
it motivates them as well, and so you can make
them better by hustling and leading by example as well.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I know in your book you talk about the NBA
officials and the referees and the na badness of certain referees.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
And I know in a survey that we had here.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
On Sports Byline, I asked the fans which they thought
umpires referees in the NFL, NBA, and the NBA referees
were the ones that came out on top. Is what
they consider to be the worst officials of the game.
Is that because these games are so hard to officiate,
because the players are the game.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Clyde.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
I just think that there's more room for interpretation. Rules
interpretations vary at different parts of the game. I think
we have to have an ironclad system. I would even
resort to go in the replay because you always want
to get to the bottom of the matter, the truth
of the matter. So I think if they would even
go to replay, like football, it would bring more integrity
(20:43):
to the game. But it is a very hard game
to officiate because it's fast and serious, and guys are
extremely good at hiding themselves behind other players, and so
usually years ago we had two referees. Now there's three,
and they still have trouble what you mean. Also a
very tough game to officiate.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Also, when you take a look at the players that
you played against, everybody always has rivalries. Teams have them,
players have them. I referred to Bill Russell and you
know Wilt Chamberlain. Supposedly that was the great rivalry there
for you. Who was the player that got you up
the most?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
I got up against every great playoff played against. Whether
it's Magic Johnson, it was Larry Bird, it was Kareem
Abdul Jabbar, it was Julius Irving, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
It didn't matter every great playoff played against. I was
always up. But the thing about the NBA is you
have to be up for everyone because all of those
guys are very good. The Orlando Blackman's, the Joe Dumars,
(21:39):
those guys. Every bit is good as the guys I mentioned,
and so you have to bring your game every night.
The consistency has got to be there.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Is it hard to get that consistency given the fact
that you play eighty two games and you're on the road,
you fly out after a game, playing the next night.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Is it hard to get that type of consistency.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
It's very hard, and it's very challenging mentally and physically
that the guys that have a lot of success are
able to get it done. And that's the difference. I think.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Let me go back to Portland for just a second.
You get to the NBA Finals and you go up
against the Chicago Bulls. You don't beat them either time,
and you finally get your championship ring in Houston. But
let's talk about that series against Chicago. What was it
that did not let the Trailblazers take that last step
and win either one of those series.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Well, the Bulls were a good team. They had a
good run there for a while. But we had tried
to overcome Magic Johnson in showtime for many, many years,
and finally when we get out of the Western Conference,
which is tough to do. Now, the Bulls are pretty
good team and they've become a dynasty. So we were
caught between all of these great teams. But nevertheless, we
were very competitive and always did the best we could.
(22:43):
That team came up short, but nevertheless, those teams had
a lot of respect for US Clyde.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
As you know, Portland has tucked away up there in
the Northwest. It is not Chicago, it is not La
it is not New York. With the glare of the
media lights and the scrutiny of the media up there,
how is that environment for playing basketball being on a
franchise up there different than what you might find in
any of those other big media markets.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Roll It was a fantastic environment. The people are absolutely
one percent loyal to the Trailblazers. It's the only game
in town, and so you have a captured ardience, and
so it's more like a college atmosphere where you have
an alumni association, So it was wonderful. It's the best
possible setting for NBA basketball, which you know, if you
(23:28):
look back on it, we had the longest consecutive sellout
streak for many, many years and that just ended a
couple of years ago because the team became so disembedded
with players who were getting jail time. But for the
most part, that's always been a great community that supports
the NBA game very well.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
When you take a look you mentioned about jail time,
they've had a lot of trouble up in Portland, and
then of course the recent problems with Kobe Bryant as well.
I'm just wondering what that does if somebody like the
poster boy for the NBA and the goodness of the
NBA gets himself in trouble. What's happening within the league.
As far as the players and their image.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
I think the players are still there. They they're a
lot of great players in the NBA who are good guys.
But you see the tattoos, the ear rings, all the
bling blinging and the go and you know, these guys
are making a lot of money. But that's always been
the case but I think what people see now is
the unwillingness by some players, just a few, a handful
of players, to reach out to the perspective communities. That's
(24:27):
what we see. And even though that's not the masses.
I mean, there's no reason for guys not to dig
into their communities and become positive role models. Instead, you
see them giving them the four arm, pushing the communities
away and acting like they don't want to be around,
they want to be anti social, they want their free time,
and that's just not the way to go as a
professional athlete.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
And you know, I've talked to a lot of players
and they say, no matter what I do on an
individual basis, the true validation comes from winning a championship.
And I have never understood that quite besides the obvious.
Can you give me some inner thinking on that.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
What it means?
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Well, it's the ultimate. It's like the championship of the world.
You're on the best team in the whole wide world,
and it's an awesome feeling because so many teams were
vying for their covenant trophy all year long, and after
one hundred and fifteen, one hundred and twenty games, you're
the last team standing, Clyde.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I want to thank you because I love watching your career.
Come back and visit with us anytime here on Sports Byline,
my friend.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Anytime, and don't forget Ron Sports PUBLISHINGSLLC dot com. Go
on line check it out.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Let me know what you think you got it, Clyde.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
The Glide is the name of the book from Hall
of Famer Clyde Drexler, deserving to be there. At the
end of his career, he joined Oscar Robertson and John
Havlichek as the only players in the NBA to ever
top twenty thousand points, six thousand rebounds, and three thousand assists.
We continue with more of you and America's sports talk show.
You have been listening to Ron Bars Sports Byline USA
(25:52):
podcast on the eight Side Network
Hi, I'm Ron Barr, and this is today's edition of
Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA podcast on the eight Side Network.
Certainly a name all basketball and sports fans know, Chris
Paul joins us on Sports Byline. He's a multi time
All Star and a two time Olympic gold medalist who's
considered one of the greatest point guards of all time.
(00:20):
He has served as president of the NBA Players Association,
and he's headed to the Hall of Fame. Off the court,
Chris is a father, husband, entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist. And
over the years, I've gotten a lot of books about
sports and life, and I have more than eleven hundred
sports book author interviews in the Sports Byline Book Corner library.
(00:40):
But the one Chris Paul has written is about his life,
the way he lives his life, and the influences that
have shaped his life. We're going to make it a
selection of the Month in the Sports Byline Book Corner
and it's called sixty one Life Lessons from Papa On
and Off the Court. First of all, Chris, you grew
up in Winston Salem, North Caroline. Now tell me a
(01:00):
little bit about that city and growing up there.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, First of all, thanks so much for having me Ron,
I really appreciate it. For me, growing up in Winston Salem,
North Carolina, it was the best thing ever. You know,
I grew up around all my family. I lived in
the same house my entire childhood, so I grew up
around all my same friends. My hometown, well, all of
(01:29):
that sort of North Carolina is known as Tobacco Road,
so all of my grandparents worked at bacco and so
I grew up with a lot of discipline. I grew
up very faith faith based Baptist church. I grew up
going to and grew up with a lot of love
(01:51):
for my family.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Your grandfather was certainly a pioneer. He operated the first
black owned service station in North Carolina, and you and
your brother worked there in the summer. What did that
instill in you.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Oh man. First of all, it instilled a strong dislike
for my parents because we didn't want to go all
the time. You know, seriously, as kids, you know, you
want to go to the gym, you want to go
to the park, you want to go do something. But
a lot of times our weekends were going to my
granddad's service station and it was working. It was working.
(02:28):
It was sort of the entire family's business. So it
be Saturday morning sometimes when we'd be at the service
station at seven am, you know, standing out there waiting
for people to pull in so that we could punk
gas and rotate tires and check people's old you know.
And what you don't always appreciate as a kid is
(02:48):
that is just showing you the value of doing the work.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
You attribute many of the life lessons you've learned to
your grandfather and have described him as your best friend.
What is it that you remember most about him, Chris
oh Man, It's.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So many good memories, but it's one of those things
where I lost my grandmother when I was seven. I
talk about it in the book. I lost my grandmother
to lung cancer. And after she passed, I used to
always try to get my granddad to move in with us, right,
just Papa, I'll come live with us, don't you you lonely?
Don't you just come be with us? Come be with us.
(03:27):
And so I found myself just spending time with them
all the time. And then when my brother went away
to college, me and my grandfather even spent more time
together because it's just me and my brother so I
wanted to be with my granddad, and so it was.
It was just a different type of love, a different
(03:48):
type of love. And now that I have kids in
my own and my son is actually in North Carolina
with my parents right now, and my dad sends a
picture of them two the other day, it's really special
because my dad is nowhere near his hard on my
son as he is as he was on me. But
(04:10):
there's a piece of me who even though I get
mad at my dad, sometimes I'll be like, hey man,
hey be hard on him too. But then that's just
cease for me to get to it, because I understand
the relationship is different.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Chris, at a young age, you and your family had
to deal with tragedy during a robbery at the service station.
Your papa was robbed and assaulted, and he passed away
from a heart attack. He was just sixty one. How
did you assimilate that loss of your best friend.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yeah, so at that age, at seventeen, losing my grandfather
the way that I did, you know, to him not
passing away like a natural causes, knowing that he had
been murdered by five teenagers, it was hard to process.
It was hard to process too, because I'm very visual.
So I remember pulling up to the scene and seeing
(05:00):
my grandfather laid out in his carport. Didn't know what
to do, didn't know how to react, and so thankfully
I have a lot of family, a whole lot of family,
And there were conversations and a lot of crying, a
lot of tears, but somehow, someway, we figured out how
(05:22):
to bounce back.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
In the book, you tell a wonderful story, Chris about
how you honored him in an opening season game in
high school. Share that with us.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah. So, my grandfather was murdered on November fifteenth, two
thousand and two. November nineteenth was his funeral. November twentieth
was the first game of my senior year, and I
went out and scored sixty one points for every year
(05:56):
that he had lived, and I had fifty nine points.
I drove into the lane, shot a floater and got filed,
and I remember just laying there on the floor just
thinking like, man, I cannot believe I did this. I
cannot believe I really achieved this. And then I went
to the free throw line because I got filed, and
I just threw the ball out of bounds and I
(06:18):
walked off the court and fell into my dad's arms,
and the rest is history.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
We're talking with Chris Paul. The name of the book
is and I urge you to check it out, sixty
one Life Lessons from Papa On and off the court. Chris,
you also talk about life beyond basketball and the role
your grandfather played in molding you into the man and
the father you are today. What were those lessons learned
from him?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh? Man, he taught me a lot. My dad taught
me a lot. My grandfather also taught me about discipline.
He taught me about discipline. He taught me about the
importance of family. He taught me importance of love. You know,
he taught me the importance of community. Right. So, it
(07:06):
was a group of guys called Jones Jones's Disciples that
came and sat at my granddad's service station every day.
Majority of the time, well almost never did they get
anything worked on by their car. They literally just sat
out there and talked about everything that was going on
in the world and the city and everything. And what's
(07:28):
funny is I have a similar relationships like they had
with the guys that I grew up with in a
group chat of all my guys from back home, and
you just realize how necessary those relationships are.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
There have also been other influences and lessons learned in
your life. I know your college basketball coach, Skip Prosser,
other coaches, your parents, and other pro superstars.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
What is the.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Common theme, Chris, that you've learned from all of them?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
The common thing that I've learned from all of them.
One of the biggest things is gratitude. It's gratitude and
any and everything that you do, you must have gratitude.
Another thing is, you know, you just can't take yourself
too serious sometimes. You know, you got to really enjoy
(08:24):
and cherish those around you and be grateful for them.
And you know results results may vary. You know, you
may win some, you may lose some, but just be
consistent with the work.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Let me ask you a little bit about basketball. Pro
sports certainly a different way of life, and correct me
if I'm wrong here, Chris. But the major thing you've
learned is also to have good balance in your life.
Am I right about that?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
You're exactly right about that, But I definitely know that's
that's always a tugging war for everybody. Exactly what is balance?
You know, it's so hard because on that day you
may have to pour all into this this cup. On
the day you might have to pour it into this
other cup. So I think we're all just trying to
(09:15):
figure it out.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
One of the things I've always been amazed about is
expectations in the business of sports. In the business of basketball,
you're always judging on a moment or to a moment
game to game basis. How did you deal with that?
Because at the pro level it's a high expectation.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
You know, expectations they come with it, right, It's part
of it's part of the job, it's part of why
he's doing. When you get to the professional level is
just at even higher magnitude. Right. So in any job,
for the most part, you know, you have certain barometers
(09:58):
that you need to meet in and you're evaluated. So
I think that's the same thing about sports. It's just
that both sports all over TV all day, every day,
so everyone and a lot of it.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Joe Morgan, the late Joe Morgan, was a good friend
of mine and we'd have long talks like you talked
about talking with your friends, And I remember him saying
to me one time, Chris that when you go zero
for four, remember the day you went four for four.
To have that kind of balance, do you do that
in basketball as well?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, you got to have a short memory. You've got
to have a short memory. Got to have a short
memory in sports because you know you could. You got
to have that confidence in yourself. You could lose. You
could miss five in a row and then easily just
make five in a row.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
You know, when you look at your career and your
life and everything and you're moving toward a point where
at some point you'll walk off the court for the
last time, how do you assimilate what you've done and all? So?
How do you deal with the fact that pro basketball
and basketball in general may not be a part of
your life going forward?
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Oh man, there's a realization where it comes, you know,
and your love for the game doesn't have to change.
But who knows, depending on you know what it is,
always try around the game. But when you've been blessed
and fortunate to play as long as I played, other
(11:31):
things started happening. And things started happening about fourteen years
ago when I had my first child. All right, so
I got a fourteen year old son, I got a
ten year old daughter who at some point, I mean
now even now, I'm I'm invested in everything that they do,
and that won't that won't change.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
You know, I think that when you do walk off
the court, that you're going to be better suited to
make the transition to retirement and something else else than
probably a lot of athletes. I mean, you know a
lot of athletes who haven't made that transition very well?
Am I right about that observation of you know what?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I hope?
Speaker 1 (12:10):
So?
Speaker 2 (12:10):
I hope so. But I've been able to watch a
number of my friends, a number of people actually younger,
younger than me, that transition. And I have these conversations
with people, and a lot of people say, you know,
you can definitely transition into something else, but you know,
your love for the game, just amount of time I've
(12:32):
been playing it, you know that love just won't ever
go anywhere. But you know, life happens, things change, and
I guess we'll see. I still worry about myself a
little bit because I've been so passionate and golf with
the game for so long.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
I have to ask you over your career, when you
think back on it, even now, at this time, what
was that aha moment? What is that moment that's engraved
in Chris Paul's mind that I'll never forget and.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Probably draft Knights. Probably draft Knight. You know, when you're
a kid and you playing around in the backyard, and
even when you in college and they tell you're gonna
be drafted and you know they tell you gonna be
a top five pick, sometimes you just you just still
can't believe it until it actually happens, because you know,
(13:23):
you may be right here and you're like, man, what
is gonna go wrong? Like what like is this really
going to happen? So that night, just to see the
look on my family's face, and especially my dad, you know,
I can't imagine what it felt like for my dad
being a lover of basketball the way that he was,
(13:44):
and to to know that, you know, he did everything
possible to give me and my brother that opportunity and
it happened.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
We only have about thirty seconds left. But what's the
best advice your grandfather or your dad has ever given you?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Oh? Man, I might sound like a probably, but just
important of family. You know, someone asked me one time,
they said, what is the one thing that I wish
my grandfather got a chance to see if it would
have been my first NBA bucket, if it would have
been a certain game that I played. I said no.
I think the thing my granddad would be the powtest
(14:25):
of is that my family is still intact. We all
still together, cousins, an uncles, everybody, we still are locked in.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
That is a great story on life in itself. I
want to congratulate you on your career, but also this book.
It's an outstanding book. It's called sixty one Life Lessons
from Papa on and off the court. And you're welcome
here anytime. Chris, I hope you come back and join
me on Sports Byline.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Thank you so much, Rob, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
You're listening to Ron Bar's Sports Byline USA podcast. Fike
Drexler joining us on Sports Byline. Clyde, of course, initiated
into the Hall of Fame in his first year of
eligibility after playing fifteen outstanding seasons in the NBA, eleven
plus with the Trailblazers, three plus with the Rockets, where
he won a championship, and a fine career average of
better than twenty points, better than six rebounds, and nearly
(15:15):
six assists a game, and in nineteen ninety six he
was selected as one of the fifty greatest players in
NBA history.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
And he has a new.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Book out the obvious title Clyde the Glide.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Clyde, nice to have you with us.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
And first of all, as you were being inducted into
the Hall of Fame, what went through your mind?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
What were your thoughts during that induction ceremony?
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Oh, Ron, I'm delighted to be here today, first of all,
but I want to tell you anytime you even consider
it to be mentioned to go into the Hall of Fame,
it's an extremely high honor. But to actually make it
first ballot is a pipe dream. And I tell you
I've been dreaming ever since.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
When you take a look at your career, it was
not always easy. Where were the hurdles for you?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Until you find you found your stride in basketball than
anything in life.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Ron. You all know that the harder you work, the
better you become. Is never going to be easy. It
takes dedication, perseverance, the ability to believe in yourself. All
of those things come into play. But if you continue
to work at your crafts, I think good things can happen.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
The book Clyde The Glide. What was the motivation for
writing it?
Speaker 4 (16:18):
The motivation is I've never done a book, and I
read a lot of sportsbook I read a lot of
books in general, and I wanted to do a book
that so people would understand my thoughts as I was
going through my professional career and some of my personal
thoughts as well, in reflection on the game itself, in
today's game, the state of the NBA, on what kind
(16:41):
of changes should be made to make a better game,
Not that it's not great, but we want to continue
to show a wonderful product. And so I thought I
voiced a few opinions something I had never had the
opportunity to do.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
When you take a.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Look at what's happened to NBA players playing an international competition,
and I think no one would disagree with the fact
that they are the greatest skill, greatest athletic basketball players
in the world. But what happens to them when they
get into international play? Why can't they function as a
team as well as they might when they're playing NBA basketball.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Clyde, I like to tell you, I think this is
an isolated incident. When I was a member of the
original Dream team nineteen ninety two, Barcelona, Spain. The only
team capable are fit to be called the Dream Team.
The other teams should just be called Olympic teams. I'm biased,
of course i am. But at the same time, this
particular team. You hear people talking about having trouble playing
(17:33):
international basketball. Well, when we were winning bout thirty five
forty fifty points a game, you had no one saying
anything about the international rules. Now one thing, we just
put together a bad team, had bad chemistry. They did
not win. The European teams were better. Give them credit.
And next year for the next Olympics, let's just put
together a better team with better chemistry and we'll get
(17:56):
the goal.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Once again, I mentioned that you were selected as one
of the fifty great as players in NBA history, and
I'm just wondering, as you look at the other players
that are considered amongst the greats to play basketball, what
is the commonality Clyde, that you all all have.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
I think a strong belief in our abilities from day one.
You have to believe in yourself because it all starts
with the belief. Anything that's ever been done starting with
someone believing that they could get it. Done, or at
least we're going to die trying. So it's a commitment.
You have to dare to be great. And if you
dare and if you practice and if you dedicate yourself,
(18:30):
good things can happen. But the commonality is they're spiritual,
they're good guys. They're pretty intelligent. Because basketball is not
like track and feel or weightlifting. It's not the strongest
of the fastest guy. You have to have skills, legitimate
basketball skills in order to be a good player. And
so there are only four hundred and four and fifty
jobs in the world in professional basketball, so there's a
(18:53):
lot of competition. You have to practice like you're going
against the best players in the world every single day
and find your game constantly, and your game has to evolve,
and all of that takes thought process, and that's why
you have to be intelligent.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
One of the things that I have found and correct
me if you think I'm wrong about this, Clyde, But
in talking to Michael Jordan and talking to Bill Russell
and others, they've all said that when the game is
on the line, that the truly great players want to
be the ones to determine the outcome. If they fail,
they'll take the blame. If they succeed, they want the glory.
And the other thing all of them have told me
is that they tend to make other players around them
(19:29):
better than they actually are. Would you agree or disagree?
Speaker 4 (19:32):
I would agree with that. And they also are great teammates.
And every one of that teams knows that they're are
committed to winning and would do anything to help any
one of their teammates. And so you can't be selfish.
You have to be the consummate team professional. And when
your teammates see you play in as hard as you are,
it motivates them as well, and so you can make
them better by hustling and leading by example as well.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I know in your book you talk about the NBA
officials and the referees and the na badness of certain referees.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
And I know in a survey that we had here.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
On Sports Byline, I asked the fans which they thought
umpires referees in the NFL, NBA, and the NBA referees
were the ones that came out on top. Is what
they consider to be the worst officials of the game.
Is that because these games are so hard to officiate,
because the players are the game.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Clyde.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
I just think that there's more room for interpretation. Rules
interpretations vary at different parts of the game. I think
we have to have an ironclad system. I would even
resort to go in the replay because you always want
to get to the bottom of the matter, the truth
of the matter. So I think if they would even
go to replay, like football, it would bring more integrity
(20:43):
to the game. But it is a very hard game
to officiate because it's fast and serious, and guys are
extremely good at hiding themselves behind other players, and so
usually years ago we had two referees. Now there's three,
and they still have trouble what you mean. Also a
very tough game to officiate.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Also, when you take a look at the players that
you played against, everybody always has rivalries. Teams have them,
players have them. I referred to Bill Russell and you
know Wilt Chamberlain. Supposedly that was the great rivalry there
for you. Who was the player that got you up
the most?
Speaker 4 (21:16):
I got up against every great playoff played against. Whether
it's Magic Johnson, it was Larry Bird, it was Kareem
Abdul Jabbar, it was Julius Irving, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.
It didn't matter every great playoff played against. I was
always up. But the thing about the NBA is you
have to be up for everyone because all of those
guys are very good. The Orlando Blackman's, the Joe Dumars,
(21:39):
those guys. Every bit is good as the guys I mentioned,
and so you have to bring your game every night.
The consistency has got to be there.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Is it hard to get that consistency given the fact
that you play eighty two games and you're on the road,
you fly out after a game, playing the next night.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Is it hard to get that type of consistency.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
It's very hard, and it's very challenging mentally and physically
that the guys that have a lot of success are
able to get it done. And that's the difference. I think.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Let me go back to Portland for just a second.
You get to the NBA Finals and you go up
against the Chicago Bulls. You don't beat them either time,
and you finally get your championship ring in Houston. But
let's talk about that series against Chicago. What was it
that did not let the Trailblazers take that last step
and win either one of those series.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Well, the Bulls were a good team. They had a
good run there for a while. But we had tried
to overcome Magic Johnson in showtime for many, many years,
and finally when we get out of the Western Conference,
which is tough to do. Now, the Bulls are pretty
good team and they've become a dynasty. So we were
caught between all of these great teams. But nevertheless, we
were very competitive and always did the best we could.
(22:43):
That team came up short, but nevertheless, those teams had
a lot of respect for US Clyde.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
As you know, Portland has tucked away up there in
the Northwest. It is not Chicago, it is not La
it is not New York. With the glare of the
media lights and the scrutiny of the media up there,
how is that environment for playing basketball being on a
franchise up there different than what you might find in
any of those other big media markets.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
Roll It was a fantastic environment. The people are absolutely
one percent loyal to the Trailblazers. It's the only game
in town, and so you have a captured ardience, and
so it's more like a college atmosphere where you have
an alumni association, So it was wonderful. It's the best
possible setting for NBA basketball, which you know, if you
(23:28):
look back on it, we had the longest consecutive sellout
streak for many, many years and that just ended a
couple of years ago because the team became so disembedded
with players who were getting jail time. But for the
most part, that's always been a great community that supports
the NBA game very well.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
When you take a look you mentioned about jail time,
they've had a lot of trouble up in Portland, and
then of course the recent problems with Kobe Bryant as well.
I'm just wondering what that does if somebody like the
poster boy for the NBA and the goodness of the
NBA gets himself in trouble. What's happening within the league.
As far as the players and their image.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
I think the players are still there. They they're a
lot of great players in the NBA who are good guys.
But you see the tattoos, the ear rings, all the
bling blinging and the go and you know, these guys
are making a lot of money. But that's always been
the case but I think what people see now is
the unwillingness by some players, just a few, a handful
of players, to reach out to the perspective communities. That's
(24:27):
what we see. And even though that's not the masses.
I mean, there's no reason for guys not to dig
into their communities and become positive role models. Instead, you
see them giving them the four arm, pushing the communities
away and acting like they don't want to be around,
they want to be anti social, they want their free time,
and that's just not the way to go as a
professional athlete.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
And you know, I've talked to a lot of players
and they say, no matter what I do on an
individual basis, the true validation comes from winning a championship.
And I have never understood that quite besides the obvious.
Can you give me some inner thinking on that.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
What it means?
Speaker 4 (25:00):
Well, it's the ultimate. It's like the championship of the world.
You're on the best team in the whole wide world,
and it's an awesome feeling because so many teams were
vying for their covenant trophy all year long, and after
one hundred and fifteen, one hundred and twenty games, you're
the last team standing, Clyde.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I want to thank you because I love watching your career.
Come back and visit with us anytime here on Sports Byline,
my friend.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
Anytime, and don't forget Ron Sports PUBLISHINGSLLC dot com. Go
on line check it out.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Let me know what you think you got it, Clyde.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
The Glide is the name of the book from Hall
of Famer Clyde Drexler, deserving to be there. At the
end of his career, he joined Oscar Robertson and John
Havlichek as the only players in the NBA to ever
top twenty thousand points, six thousand rebounds, and three thousand assists.
We continue with more of you and America's sports talk show.
You have been listening to Ron Bars Sports Byline USA
(25:52):
podcast on the eight Side Network
Host
Ron Barr
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