Over at The Basketball Jones, a reader (and a Chris Paul fan) sent in a story about how he indirectly lost his favorite team — the Pacers — a game.
I was out in Indy sitting first row behind the scorer’s table, chatting it up with players left and right (they were, however, ignoring me). The P’s had a solid lead and CP wasn’t showing up much directly on offense, missing several jumpers. He came to check in at around 3:36, and I was in complete Pacers mode. Without thinking, I murmured, “CP ain’t shit.” He quickly turned around and said, “What?” High off the fact that he even acknowledged me, I said, “Yeah, you’re lucky T.J.’s (Ford) not playing.” He replied, “Yeah, I prayed for that last night,” and rolled his eyes and laughed. I was in complete disarray, and said to the man that I had so passionately spoken in MVP support for last year: “You shouldn’t have been mentioned for MVP last year, Kobe is way better than you.” He laughed and walked off. My friend gave me the “what have you done” look.
CP, the passing machine, stopped passing then. He began to shoot every time he got the ball and took over the game going 6/8 and scoring 11 points in the final 3:36. I was standing and cheering passionately every time Granger hit a big shot and he was looking my way.
After a timeout, he walked from the bench to halfcourt smirking and smiling, staring me down the whole way. I gave him a thumbs down and shook my head. With 26 seconds left he drove, danced around with the ball and hit West for a wide open jumper to win it. I thought the game was over, but it wasn’t.
CP went over, took a photo with someone, then walked in my direction. I stood up. He stopped directly in front of the scorers table and, pointing a solid finger, and said in LeBron fashion, “It’s your fault. It’s your fault.” My legs began to shake as my star crush walked away.
What did I do.
The box score and play-by-play check out, so if true (and entirely accurate), this is an amazing story. It just goes to show how quickly and easily an athlete can find motivation. The NBA regular season is often called a “grind,” and it can be tough for players to get emotionally inspired for every game of an 82-game season. It sounds like this fan (and his big mouth, I’m sure he’d be the first to admit) gave Chris Paul the motivation to break out of his funk and put the Hornets over the top.
Obviously, most of us would have the good sense not to heckle a guy like Chris Paul, but how would you feel if this had happened to you? If CP3 came over, pointed at me and said “it’s your fault,” I might not leave the house for two weeks.
