INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Chris Paul walked into an empty Intuit Dome on Monday, looked up at the massive halo board and saw his name. His No. 3 jersey hung in the home locker room.
Both things confirmed that Paul was back where he'd wanted to be for a long time, with the Los Angeles Clippers. He signed on last week for an off-the-bench role in the hopes of winning an NBA championship alongside Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
“It’s kind of wild, kind of crazy, still kind of speechless,” Paul said. “This is one of those things I kind of manifested for a long time, sort of tried to speak it into existence, but you just never know if it’s really going to happen.”
Last summer, Paul reached out to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and asked for a tour of Intuit Dome, which opened nearly a year ago.
“I was just sort of peeking because I didn't know if a guy on the current team was here and they were like, ‘What the hell he doing here walking around?’” Paul said, smiling. "Walking around just now it's a totally different feeling.”
Paul frequently glanced down at his family sitting in the first row — wife Jada, 16-year-old son Chris Jr. and 12-year-old daughter Camryn. They continued living in Los Angeles when he left the Clippers six years ago. That led to watching their father on TV and sharing quick phone conversations before school.
“I love to hoop, I love to play this game but I love my family more than any of it,” he said.
He's already making up for lost time.
He lifted weights with his son and recently returned from attending his daughter's AAU basketball tournament.
“To tell you the truth, my wife and my kids probably tired of me already,” he said. “Ever since I got the news, every time we're home, I'm just jumping around talking about ‘I’m home, I'm home.'”
Paul left the Clippers for the Houston Rockets in 2017 because he felt it was time for a change and he wanted to compete for a championship with Harden.
“It's wild that you get this opportunity again after those two years and the success that we had,” Paul said. “We definitely know we had unfinished business so we get a chance to see what's going on here.”
After two seasons in Houston, Paul went to Oklahoma City for one season. He then spent three years with Phoenix and one with Golden State before joining the Spurs last season. They finished 13th in the Western Conference at 34-48.
“I wanted to get back and play here by any means necessary," Paul said. "I didn't even care what the team looked like, I just wanted to be home, be here with the Clippers.”
Paul joins Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James as active 40-year-olds in the NBA.
“It's going to be cool,” he said. “It's a lot of gratitude to still get a chance to play at this age.”
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