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Clippers’ Chris Paul endorses Kyle Lowry for Olympic team

By Tom West

November 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) meets with Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) following the 91-80 victory at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
November 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) meets with Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) following the 91-80 victory at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul has withdrawn from consideration for the 2016 USA Olympic team, and has said that Kyle Lowry is someone who should take his place.

Chris Paul has withdrawn from consideration to make the 2016 USA Olympic team for Rio de Janeiro this summer, surely disappointing Los Angeles Clippers fans who wanted to see him dropping dimes and throwing alley-oops to the best players in the world.

However, Paul has to consider his health and conditioning at 31 years old, especially after winning two gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics already. Plus, he wants to be able to spend as much time with his family as possible, which always deserves to come first in the summer any player.

Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated spoke with Paul, who mentioned that his health and his son are reason for him likely ending his international career for good:

"“I feel my body telling me that I could use the time” …“Just a few days ago, Little Chris asked me, ‘Daddy, will you play in the Olympics again?’” Paul said. “Part of me wanted to say yes, because he’s never been part of it. But I told him, ‘I want to spend more time with you.’”"

Then, Paul went on to say that he believes Toronto Raptors All-Star Kyle Lowry is someone who deserves the place on Team USA:

"“Of course, you’ll have Steph (Curry) and those guys,” Paul said. “Someone else I think would be great is Kyle Lowry. I love watching him play. You need that grit.”"

As Paul said, Lowry’s grit has been a vital element of his game. It gives him the hustle to constantly pester opponents on defense and drive to the basket with physicality and efficiency despite being just 6’0″. He slimmed down last summer to improve his speed and energy on the court, helping to create his career-season through 2015-16, averaging new highs in points (21.6), rebounds (4.8), steals (2.1), minutes (37.2) and player efficiency rating (22.9).

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Simply put, Lowry is one of the best point guards in the game and he’s led the Raptors to the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference by a clear margin alongside fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan.

The problem for Lowry is that point guard is by far the NBA’s deepest positioning, featuring so much talent from a triple-double machine like Russell Westbrook to an unprecedented shooter like Stephen Curry. And with so many stars like Westbrook, Curry, Mike Conley, John Wall, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard as members of the 30 finalists to make Team USA, Lowry has been left off the list to go to Rio.

Chris Paul was well and truly right in his endorsement, though. With so many elite players at the position, Lowry deserves praise as he continues to improve and lead the Raptors to new heights in the process.

Next: Pablo Prigioni opts out of the 2016 Olympics for Argentina

As for Paul, his focus will remain solely on the Clippers. Before that extra time to recover and relax with his family in the summer, he’ll be doing everything in his power to try and take the Clippers past the second round for the first time in franchise history.