The Phoenix Suns lost in the NBA Finals, but at 36 years old, Chris Paul is not considering retirement. He’s looking to get back to work and wants to be a part of something special with the team.
The who does chris paul play for is a question that is often asked in sports. Chris Paul, 36, the star point guard of the Phoenix Suns, has decided to not consider retirement after his team was eliminated from the NBA Finals by the Golden State Warriors.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Chris Paul’s closest approach to the coveted championship that has evaded him throughout his 16-year career left him feeling even farther away from his first win. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, making the Suns just the sixth club in NBA Finals history to lose after leading 2-0.
“It’ll take a time to digest this or anything,” Paul said after the Bucks’ 105-98 series-clinching victory. “Return to your job. If that’s what you’re asking, I’m not going anywhere. That is no longer the case. So, let’s go back to work.”
Paul, 36, had 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting and five assists in the title game, putting the Suns within four points of Milwaukee with 1:14 left, but it wasn’t enough to force a Game 7 back in Phoenix.
“Right now, you’re simply pondering what you might have done better,” Paul said. “It’s a challenge. Great bunch of men, incredible season, but this one will sting for a long time.”
Paul has a player option for next season worth $44.2 million, and while plenty of contenders around the league could use a point guard like him to make a push next season — hello, Los Angeles Lakers — he didn’t sound like someone looking to leave a team stocked with young talent like Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton that took him two wins away from the promised land so quickly.
“Everyone in that locker room knows we’ve had enough,” Paul added, “but it wasn’t enough.” “So now it’s up to us to sort it out. I believe for me, I just look at myself and find out how I can improve, what I could have done better, and make sure I’m ready to do it all over again next season.”
Chris Paul said that his attitude after the NBA Finals loss is to “move on.” “Return to your job. If that’s what you’re asking, I’m not going anywhere. That is no longer the case. So, let’s go back to work.” Getty Images/Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE
Paul became the only player in league history to lose four postseason series in which his team was leading 2-0. However, following their shared Finals loss, his coach, Monty Williams, fought back against any criticism aimed at his point guard.
“It’s ridiculous when you speak about people like Chris who have had these unbelievable careers and yet they are punished for not winning a championship,” Williams remarked. “That was my aim, to win it for him and Book; they’ve been our backbone all year.” And Chris, this is my second time teaching him; I know how hard he works and how dedicated he is to his profession. So it’s ridiculous to hear such comments about his career when he hasn’t won a title.
“It’s difficult enough to get into the NBA, much alone be an all-time great, as he is.”
Booker, who had two 40-point games in the series but struggled in Game 6 with 19 points on 8-for-22 shooting and six turnovers — including going 2-for-7 in the fourth quarter as the Bucks pulled away after the game was tied 77-77 after three quarters — said the Suns’ playoff run set a new standard for the franchise.
After Phoenix reached the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, Booker characterized it as “championship basketball and nothing less.” “So, if we don’t have it going into next season on a Tuesday night versus Cleveland, we’ll be promptly reminded of the specifics.” And if you don’t give it your all right now, what can happen, and what we’re experiencing right now, can happen.
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“So, this isn’t a sensation you want to experience. This is the most painful experience I’ve ever had. So that’s what I say when I know we have a foundation and a basis, and we’re playing championship basketball all of the time.”
When asked how it felt in the moment to absorb the outcome of a Suns season that came just short, Williams fought back tears during his postgame comments.
Willliams’ voice became stuck in his throat as he replied, “I believe it’ll take me a minute.” “It’s just that I’m not naive enough to take it for granted. It’s difficult to get here, and I really wanted it. It’s difficult to comprehend right now. It’s difficult. That is all there is to it.”
However, the Suns’ journey wasn’t all sadness for the club that removed the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers, swept league MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, eliminated the LA Clippers, and gave the Bucks all they could handle with a championship on the line.
“It was still enjoyable,” Ayton remarked as he stormed out of the interview room, despite the fact that they had lost.
