Enjoy peeps.

Don't get me wrong - his past season ranks as one of the best seasons a point guard has ever had. But if he can repeat it, do what he did this season yet again... well, that would truly be phenomenal.
The very fact that in his third season in the NBA, he's getting mentioned with the likes of Stockton, Robertson and Magic... well, that in itself is testament enough.

Many, many people had him winning the NBA MVP this season, and this week when it's awarded to Kobe Bryant, many of those same people will decry Bryant's season and claim that Paul should have won it.
Whilst I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment, Paul's season was such that if he did win it, not even this very passionate Lakers fan would've had too much to complain about.

With the season CP3's had, with what he's able to do on the court, it's easy to forget that he's a mere 22 years old.
And nigh on 6 feet tall.
That's the amazing thing about Paul - he's so young, and so diminutive in an era when NBA players are - across the board - bigger than ever before... yet he's able to dominate.

It's also part of the reason that the Hornets are so continually dismissed by all and sundry. During the regular season, we all waited for the collapse that never really came (unless you can call a late-season drop from 1st to 2nd).
Round 1 of playoffs: Dallas versus New Orleans.
Everyman's response?
"I'll go with experience."
End result? Paul and his Hornets made the Mavs look old & decrepit, and left the franchise a smoking ruin that will probably never look the same.

Same with round 2. Nearly every punter has tipped the Spurs to take it - they are the reigning champs after all - but in game 1 it was the Hornets who ripped the Spurs to shreds, running away easy winners 101-82. The amazing thing was that it wasn't Chris Paul, but David West who did the damage... but Paul has had his part to play in that.
He is the reason this New Orleans has faith in itself.
He's the impetus behind David West's surge to All-Star status, behind the resurgence of Peja Stojakovic and Bonzi Wells, the growth of Tyson Chandler.

It's a pity that when Kobe Bryant gets awarded the Maurice Podoloff Trophy that there will be some who will demean both Kobe & Chris Paul by savaging the winner. Happens every year - disgruntled fans who are sure that their opinion's correct, that they have somehow been wronged, and that - this year - Chris Paul's season has somehow been diminished by not winning the MVP trophy.
How ridiculous...
Chris Paul had the season he had - nothing changes that.
Kobe wins the MVP... so?
Both would be deserving winners. Both have lifted their franchises to great heights this season. Mere awards detract nothing from the season Paul had.

Paul's season was incredible, and all of basketball look forward to a multitude of the same. Then he can be rightfully declared to be up their in the pantheon of greats at his position.

And today, May 6th, is Chris Paul's birthday. Congratulations, on this season. May you have many more like it - basketball waits...

Praising Chris Paul is kind of like praising kittens and puppies; it's hard to find a fresh angle. The real joy of watching him, however, is the promise that there will be more like him.

Consider who the role models for NBA guards have been for the past decade. If you were a shooting guard, your role model was Kobe Bryant, who has basically spent his entire life trying to be Michael Jordan. And if you were small -- and there's more of us than there are of the latter, especially because we all start short -- your model was Allen Iverson.

There is no greater AI fan on the planet than me. He remains, to this day, a singularly unique player, utterly compelling, and on the short list of best players ever under 6 feet tall. But in terms of a player to emulate, he's toxic. (Don't believe me? Go watch Sebastien Telfair, DaJuan Wagner, Stephon Marbury, Damon Stoudamire... and the list goes on.)

A tangent: Led Zeppelin is, by any measure, one of the best rock bands ever. They've also inspired tens of thousands of other bands, almost all of them unlistenable. The reason why is that Bonham, Jones, Page and Plant were singular talents that meshed perfectly... and your local band with the guy that needs oversized floor toms to sound like Bonham, or the singer with the screech that wants to write lyrics about elves... well, we're sorry, but the copy isn't good. They'd have been better off emulating Aerosmith. They still wouldn't have been any good, but at least that way, they wouldn't peel the paint off the walls.

So it is with CP3. He does make his teammates better, and unlike AI's bullet passes and indomitable will, not as turnover prone. Since he's an utter joy to play with, he gets more and better screens from his bigs. He's also playing, of course, in the era where moving screens have become more or less accepted, so it's even more accepted.

CP3 has, of course, other advantages. While he's had the live body of Tyson Chandler to catch alley oops, AI had the broken-down body and bad hands of Theo Ratliff. The Sixers have never had a shooter like Peja Stojakovic in the entire history of the franchise. David West is simply a great player, and the Bug Bench and other players (Julian Wright, Bonzi Wells, Jannero Pargo) can all carry the team for brief stretches of time. When Paul sits, they don't fall apart. Paul hasn't had the carnival of clown coaches to start his career, either: by the time Larry Brown got here, AI was what he is.

But all if this is chicken and egg. CP3 makes basketball fun for his teammates, and the more successful he is, the greater the chance that the next era of NBA guards will be like him. He's got nothing to do, really, with anyone that has come before him, but he'll have everything to do with what comes after... and for the next 5 years, health permitting, every playoff season in the West will be better because of him, because each matchup will feature a top drawer point guard matchup. Which means every playoff season will start off as watchable, and maybe go a lot farther than that... and maybe, just maybe, we'll finally have a playoff run that's more fun to watch as it goes along, rather than less.

Happy birthday, CP3. But it's happier for the Association.

On May 6th (Chris Paul's birthday), At The Hive will host the festivities, and it promises to be an occasion to remember.

With Malice... will be involved, and there'll be a host of other, even more worthy blogs involved!