Chris Paul has worn No. 3 his entire NBA career and even goes by the nickname CP3, so it would follow that he would be willing to pay quite the price to keep the number in what might be the final season of his career.
The Los Angeles Clippers guard essentially confirmed as much Monday.
“If only y’all knew how much money I’ve paid to wear No. 3,” he told reporters.
It is something of a noteworthy comment considering what Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in July when discussing Bradley Beal’s willingness to give up the number, which he has also worn his entire NBA career.Â
“Once Brad heard it’s a possibility Chris was coming he said, ‘I want to give him my number,’ and I don’t even think Chris knows this yet,” Frank told reporters. “It’s awesome that Brad made such a great gesture like that.”
It seems like Beal received a nice payday for that “gesture,” although Paul was making light of the entire situation and noted his new teammate did not ask for the money:
Los Angeles added both Paul and Beal to its veteran-laden roster this offseason. They are two of the eight players who are older than 30 years old with Brook Lopez, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Nicolas Batum, Bogdan Bogdanović and Kris Dunn also set to suit up for the team in win-now mode.
It is a homecoming of sorts for Paul, who played for the Clippers from 2011-12 through 2016-17 during some of the best individual seasons of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
He made five straight All-Star Games, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting and was a member of either the First- or Second-Team All-NBA in his first five seasons with Los Angeles and was, of course, wearing No. 3 the entire time.
Paul won’t be in quite as integral of a role as a 40-year-old during his second go-around with the Clippers, but he will still be wearing the familiar number.
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