LOS ANGELES – San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul is the second-oldest player in the NBA behind only the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James. Recently, Paul admitted that while he thinks about retirement more often, he’s not yet sure when he’ll decide to hang ‘em up. During his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Chris Paul formed a bond with Lakers head coach JJ Redick, a bond that continues to this day.
Prior to the Lakers’ game against the Spurs on Monday, JJ Redick was adamant that he does wish he was still playing, and what his true feelings are on Chris Paul still playing in the league.
“No,” Redick said with a smile. “I just told him, ‘you’re a psycho.’”
Paul and Redick were teammates on the Clippers for four seasons. Back in January amid the devastating wildfires that burned through Southern California and caused Redick and his family to lose their home, Redick spoke about how he views Paul as a brother.
After the Lakers’ 125-109 win against the Spurs, Paul spoke about what it felt like to play against his old teammate and friend, as per Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation.
“Yeah, it’s cool, man, especially because I’ll still watch games every night, so talking to JJ before the game, knowing he was my teammate and now seeing him coaching and doing things outside the box,” Paul said. “You gotta do that if you’re gonna have a chance, but JJ is doing a great job over there, and it’s still surreal to be playing against him.”
Redick is slightly older than Paul; Redick was born in June 1984 while Paul was born in May 1985. But Redick has been retired from the NBA for four years now. While Redick has still found comfort in the game of basketball as a head coach, he admitted the fear that comes with retirement, and how Paul serves as an inspiration.
“The fear for all of us, especially as we get towards the end, is that there’s nothing on the other side. And it’s not about how much money you made in your career, how much money you saved, what you could live off of, it’s not about that,” Redick said. “It’s highly competitive, highly driven, highly motivated people. . .that is CP.”
“The crazy thing is he could do anything he wanted to do because of who he is and how he’s carried himself, and the career he’s had, and reputation he has, and the person he is, and he still wants to play the game,” Redick continued. “And that says a lot about him. He’s a great dad, great husband and he’s still chasing the little orange ball around like we all did when we were kids.”
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