Clippers: Picking events for L.A.’s stars at Rio Olympics
By Tom West
Chris Paul – Handball
As an All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team player year in and year out, with a remarkable IQ for the game on level with anyone right now, Chris Paul is a basketball player through and through. Add on the fact that he’s only 6’0″ and doesn’t have the freakish explosiveness of Russell Westbrook, and it’s harder still to pick an event for Paul based on athletic traits alone.
Nevertheless, if I’m going to pick a non-basketball event for Paul, handball is what I’m going with.
Admittedly, my handball knowledge is far from extensive. It’s quite the opposite, but I think most NBA fans will be similar in that regard. However, the skill set of some physicality, stellar hand and eye coordination, speed, leaping ability, crisp passing and powerful throws to score is clear, which suits a guy like CP3 pretty well.
“You’re talking about another sport with running and jumping, changing direction and throwing a ball into a net?” fellow point guard Kyle Lowry said to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post, who recently did some research into why the U.S. is so bad (and uninterested) in handball. “Yeah, I think we could figure it out. How much do they make?” Lowry added.
If another 6’0″ point guard like Lowry thinks the U.S. and basketball players could figure out handball, there’s no reason why Paul and many other NBA players couldn’t take to the sport if they gave it a shot. They wouldn’t be experts, but as Kilgore detailed in his article, the U.S. (and the NBA, in particular) possesses many athletes with the type of physical abilities that apply to the sport.
In fact, when discussing one of the most unique and truly remarkable athletes in general sporting history, the U.S. national team handball coach Javier Garcia-Cuesta said LeBron James could be the best handball player in the world in a hurry if he wanted to be:
"“Maybe six months. This is just a hypothetical. He has everything. When you see him playing, your mouth drops.”"
Mikkel Hansen of Denmark, described by Kilgore as, “the LeBron James of handball,” also had high praise for LeBron:
"“It’s difficult to talk about that,” Hansen said, laughing. “I admire LeBron James very much. I’m a big basketball fan. The way he sees the court, his vision for the game, is very impressive. There you would have a good start. And physically, he is amazing. But you also need to throw the ball. So, yeah. Maybe.”"
No, Chris Paul is not LeBron James. At 6’0″, lacking the unmatched combination of explosion, strength, speed and skill (just like everyone else in comparison), the differences are blindingly obvious. Paul is also shorter than the LeBron handball equivalent, 6’5″ Mikkel Hansen. But in terms of speed, bulldog like strength and hustle that he uses to defend, vision, and some of the best passing ability we’ve ever seen in the league, Paul still ticks a lot of the boxes for a handball player.
For that reason, he makes the imaginary cut in these Olympics.
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