Chris Paul is just like you—provided, of course, you also enjoy watching James Harden play.
The Houston Rockets’ new point guard, who missed the team’s win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday with a knee bruise, continues to revel in seeing Harden operate, almost to a fault, per ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon:
“One of the biggest things I was looking forward to this year is to be able to watch somebody as talented as James. Our whole team is one thing, but James is special, man. I catch myself sometimes watching. I’ve got to get used to it, but he’s unreal.”
Houston is no doubt hoping Paul does some less drooling in the near future. He was forced out of the Rockets’ opening-night win over the Golden State Warriors for the entire fourth quarter with that same knee injury. For as complementary as Harden and Paul are in theory, they need to be on the court together, working through whatever adjustments still lie before them.
Chris Paul’s infatuation with Harden, though, only portends a smooth, if not completely wrinkle-free, process. He looked uncomfortable at times against the Warriors. He didn’t always know what to do when stationed off the ball, it seemed he had to remind himself the object in Mike D’Antoni’s offense is too push the pace at every turn, and he reverted to his old, Los Angeles Clippers ways when charged with running the show on his own.
Most of the kinks will be worked out with time. But Paul has played essentially one way for the first 12 years of his career. He won’t master a new style and new dynamic overnight. But he wants to. And right now, this early in the season, that matters a whole lot.
