Chris Paul is pretty tired. He’s wandering the floor of the ballroom at Benton Convention Center here in his hometown, where he’s hosting the Banker’s Ball, a shirt-and-tie affair that features a silent auction, a dinner and just about everybody Paul has met in his 23 years on the planet, from his cousins and his high school principal to Byron Scott, his coach with the Hornets.
It’s part of Paul’s Winston-Salem charity weekend, which kicked off Thursday with a Ludacris concert (tickets were $10) and runs through a church service on Sunday.
Already, Paul started the day Friday by dedicating a learning center and unveiling 10 new computers at the Boys and Girls Club, then reading to kids (Peekaboo, Blue! was the choice, and not to give away the ending, but it turns out Blue was under the tablecloth). He then played some pickup ball with mentally disabled kids and then was off to make a Meals on Wheels delivery to a 90-year-old Winston-Salem resident. (“You don’t look a day over 60,” he told her. “Oh, hush up,” she said.) From there, he rode over to Wake Forest’s Grove Stadium and handed out boxes of food to 400 families as part of the Feed The Children program.

“What is most impressive,” said the president of Feed The Children, Larry Jones, “is that he doesn’t want to just write a check and say good luck. He wants to come out and look people in the eye and say good luck. He seems to have endless amounts of energy.”

Well, maybe. Now, during the nonstop glad-handing and the, “Hey, how are you?” of the Banker’s Ball, Paul is being asked to step out for a photo shoot. He heaves an aggravated sigh. He looks to the heavens, like a man who has just realized his car has just been towed. But, he pulls himself together and steps out of the ballroom to take the pictures. And the look of annoyance is quickly wiped away. Watching him smile as the strobes flash, you’d swear there was no place else in the world he’d rather be than standing here, having his picture taken.

“It’s a busy weekend,” Paul said. “And it goes beyond this weekend. We’ve been planning this for a long time. Now that it’s here, I don’t have much time to breathe. That’s how it is set up. But the only way to be able to help as many people as possible is to try to do as much as possible, and there’s not much time to do it.”

This is the third time Paul has hosted a Winston-Salem weekend — in which he is able to raise money for his foundation and spend some time giving back to the community — and it’s by far the biggest. That reflects the kind of year it has been for Paul. Already one of the top point guards in the NBA heading into last season, Paul ascended to MVP-candidate status in leading the Hornets to 56 wins and averages of 21.1 points and 11.6 assists, while shooting 48.8 percent from the field. After the NBA season, Paul reported for practice with Team USA, then was off to China to win an Olympic gold medal.

Now, Paul gets a few days at home. But those are packed. “I am leaving for New Orleans Monday,” he said. “And we’ll get right to practicing and working out and then right into training camp. The season is nine months. I am tired, but, I guess I can rest next summer.”

If there is a worry around a player who has so clearly come into his own the way Paul has, it’s that he may be trying to do a little too much. We’ve seen it before — players overextend in international competitions over the summer, leaving themselves more susceptible to fatigue and, sometimes, injury.

That might have some Hornets fans concerned. But Scott is not worried. “Chris takes very good care of himself,” Scott said. “With some players, maybe you’d worry about things like that. I don’t worry about it with Chris.”

Paul isn’t worried about it, either. If it means going to bed a little earlier or getting in more naps during training camp, it’s a small price to pay. “Everything that has happened this summer, everything dating back to last year, it’s been great,” Paul said. “I wouldn’t change anything. With this weekend, I want to be here and give my time to the place where I grew up that made me who I am. I wouldn’t trade that. I will have time to rest, it’ll just have to be later.”

Posted on September 22nd, 2008 by admin
Filed under: NBA basketball news