Chris Paul on Being Traded, His New Memoir, and Learning to Mellow Out

And for me, it’s ironic that I’ve had [points to his hands] thumb surgery here, 16 screws here, thumb surgery here, both of my pinkies, whatnot. But it is just a correlation that you work, you work with your hands.

My hands tell a story. John Stockton, Isaiah Thomas, all these other point guards that have played in the NBA, if you ever get a chance to meet them, look at their fingers. Fingers going that way, that way.

Who’s got the most fucked up fingers?

Bobby Jackson. I said that so fast. Bobby Jackson. Michael Jordan.

I could be doing some of the simplest things sometimes and I’ll grab something and I’ll be like, “Oh!” So—me and D Wade play golf. Me and D Wade played golf together on Sunday. We’ve been friends for the longest. D just started playing golf two, three years ago, and it was our first time actually getting time to play golf together. And we was talking about how he swings and all this, and he doesn’t interlock because he broke one of his pinkies and he never got it fixed. When I play golf, sometimes I actually let go of the club because I feel like my thumb is getting in the way.

You write about feeling proud of being one of the oldest players in the NBA. Tell me how that feels these days.

It is not just proud—it’s like, I’m grateful. From my draft class, no one else is still in the NBA. And that’s something that I take lightly or for granted. There’s a lot of guys that I came into the league with or that I see now at games, and they’re on the coaching staff. And I’m always so humbled and grateful to see them, because I know how much this game means to me, and I know how much it means to them, too. Some people are coaching now but would love the opportunity to still play, and that’s why I don’t take it lightly.

It almost sounds like you feel like you have a duty to play as long as you can—with what the game means to you, with what the game has done for you.

I don’t think it’s a duty, it’s just that I love it that much. I got friends of mine that coach. [New Orleans Pelicans coach] Willie Green was my teammate. [Portland Trailblazers coach] Chauncey Billups. All these guys that I know love the game and they coach it with that same passion and love—but it ain’t nothing like playing. And not just playing, but playing at a high level, still, with the greatest players in the world. I embrace it.

So, speaking of peers, Carmelo just announced his retirement. LeBron is teasing, saying he’s going to have to think about—

He ain’t going nowhere.

Either way, Bronny is going to be in the league soon. Carmelo’s son is coming up. What is it like for you watching your peers, your friends, move into these different phases and then for their kids to be coming up?

It’s amazing, because I’m very involved in grassroots basketball. I got 12 of my AAU kids that play in the NBA. It’s crazy because last summer I was at Peach Jam and I worked out with Kiyan. Actually worked out with him, and I can remember him being at my house at sleepovers with little Chris. It’s always a little mind-boggling for me because one of our kids that’ll get drafted this year, a kid named GG Jackson, I saw GG at his workout and he called me coach, or he called me sir. Meanwhile, he’s going to be in the NBA this year. That type of stuff just pushes me and motivates me even more. I want to play against them.

And when you guys are both on the court, it’s on.

Oh, it’s on. I think the coolest part was when I was playing at Oklahoma City, we played against the Bulls. And at the time, Coby White was playing for the Bulls and so was Wendell Carter. And both of those guys had played in our AAU program. So when we’re together during the AAU season, they talk junk because when they’re 16 or whatever, they be talking junk. They ain’t even went to college [yet], but they like, “Man, I’ll do this to you. I’ll do this to you.” So boom, a couple years go by. Now they’re in the NBA and I got a chance to play against them. And I think I might have had 30 or 35 on them. But it’s cool because it’s bigger than basketball—our grassroots program is literally to give these guys the opportunity to do what I’ve had an opportunity to do. And that’s: change their family’s lives forever.

But I imagine it also still feels pretty good to put 30 on a 22-year-old.

No question. It feels good, too, because these guys are really like my family. It’s not like some bogus stuff. Like Kobe, I just worked out with Coby. Actually me and my son, me and Little Chris, worked out with Coby maybe two weeks ago.

You’ve embraced a role as a mentor in the league, whether that’s in the Players’ Association or as a teammate, a friend, a colleague. You write about something that one of your coaches in Houston shared with you: that the hardest thing for you is going to be learning how to play with people who don’t care as much as you. What has that process been like?

That process has been the hardest. Seriously. It’s been the hardest.

I’m sure there’s a period where you think you can get everyone to care, right? Where you’re like, “I’m going to try.”

Yes, that was early in my career.

When do you recognize, “All right, you know what, I’m going to let you do your thing. I’m not going to be able to get you to care the way I care.”

I think Houston sort of got it like that. And then as I’ve get gotten older and more years in the league, you start to realize: control what you can control. You know what I mean? You pick your battles. That’s the thing I’ve learned, is to meet people where they are as best as possible.