During Game 1 of the playoff series between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers last season, Chris Paul injured his right shoulder and had to leave the game for a period of time. The injury clearly hampered him offensively, as he scored just 20 points on 21 shots across the initial three games.
During a recent appearance on JJ Redick’s podcast, “The Old Man & The Three,” Paul detailed just how severe and limiting the shoulder issue was for him. He labeled it “probably one of the craziest injuries” of his career because he “would dribble and the ball wouldn’t come back up,” due to the lack of strength in his arm.
“It was the scariest thing ever,” Paul said. “I would dribble. ‘Whoa, why am I losing the ball?’ ”
At one point during Game 1, he said he made a shot by “literally” throwing the ball into the hoop.
“I, like, turned and looked at my brother,” Paul said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know how the hell that just went in.’”
In Game 2, Paul said he doesn’t know why the Lakers guarded him, explaining that he physically “could not shoot at all” and “could not raise [his] arm.”
Paul didn’t know whether Los Angeles was aware of his hindrance, citing that defenders kept adjusting their coverage, unsure of exactly how much the veteran star had to offer offensively.
“In that series, I wasn’t doing shootaround,” Paul said. “I wasn’t touching a ball. I wasn’t doing anything until the game.”
Later, he reiterated that head coach Monty Williams told him prior to Game 4 that Paul wouldn’t be playing, yet Paul refused to sit out and said Williams could bench him if necessary. As the story goes, Paul played, scored 18 points and dished out nine assists in a win. Phoenix tied the series at two before routing the shorthanded Lakers in Games 5 and 6 to clinch the series.