In the Film Room with Chris Paul, one of the all time great passers in the history of the NBA.

no thanks for doing this with us man no problem aj bobby right here wow this is

great

we have a handful of places to show you but just one thing we've talked to you about a lot is you watch basketball every one. night and just thinking about your career how important it is to study

film

and how much you watch basketball every night what did that mean for your career in your development it has meant everything obviously i think experience is the best teacher the best tool but watching movies is studying like that that even when we're not in the gym when the games start and I'm home at night, this is my way of studying and learning people's tendencies and what running teams like to play. first game as an nba player oh just the jump ball here we go nba in okc is about to happen for the real people what do you remember of this moment when you are dribbling the ball on the court for the first

time

as a professional? man I've seen this in years but when I play for Garth Scott the office we used to run was I was called the chin offense guy.

I don't think anyone in the league now still runs this office because the games are so much faster. it was a set it was called forward and as I see the game play out I could tell you if it went forward, down, swing, it went forward, out, back, we used to have forward, that's a craziness. good forwards to pass west and PJ Brown those bets you had there actually we'll show you next your first assist in the NBA and this, you're playing a little bit more pace here but what do you remember about this? lingers whose day it was and that was Bondi's garden that's crazy but uh PJ Brown was one of my vets my truth that taught me a lot about being a professional about professionalism and finances and how come to work every day and take care of your body. who what i noticed about that play is something that's been true your whole career you're always on triple threat how important is it to you to be able to make those last minute decisions and have all your options open for as long as possible it seems like i was about to of shooting and you know it's a staple of and helping out.

I always say I got the easy part and passed to the guys who have to make the shots, try to find the open guy and hope they bail him out some

time

s just thinking about this first. game would you have imagined at this age that you would be in the top 10 and assist all time in the NBA you know that's crazy and I tell people when I came to the league I had goals and one of the goals I never forget when I played in Utah I looked up and I saw the stats for John Stockton all time leading assists and all time leading steals John's doctor and I thought I was behind it I go after it and as soon as I get hurt a couple of times it went out the window because John Stockton was so durable, but um, one of the people I'm Fela to is always grateful to Byron Scott.

You know, when I came in as a rookie, he gave me the ball and I told him to play, play, and learn, and there's no teacher like that, so let's fast forward to now with your second leg. in Oklahoma City and this is a play with a three-on-two fast break and kind of practiced in high school, so as soon as we get out of lockdowns like I said once upon a time in that first clip, I probably would have been gone. took off and had it but you know as I see score here take off like there is right out of the box I can see Bayes Bayes is very very very fun and Bayes is filling that mid lane so you knew he was going to be open.

Is it harder to execute a counter-attack when you're on the wing than it is in midfield? Sometimes, but it all depends on who the defenders are. just like the sorter guys could have sniffed it out and maybe the ball would have gone to Shea so a lot happens very fast and even though we make it look easy a lot happens so you can make that decision in real time because the crisis isn't always the right call but for him for the most part it's an educated call okay let's move on to the next play so this is a double height screen just take me through your options here yeah oh stop it right now so here we run this play a lot and Gallo is the shooter he is you never know if they're going to change if they're going to show the person that I'm really focused on while all this is going on is Brandon Ingram and the The reason is because I think the game is defensive: and its defensive directors, so right now Brandon Ingram is the short man.

I know Nerlens will be quickly off screen because I'm going to make sure Drew's vacation is worrying me, so now I'm not even looking at anyone but Brandon Ingram. if Brandon Ingram is then the past goes to Shea if he's shadow hooked he'll be alive but because Jalil Okafor is kinda awake and at the end of the day I'm 6ft 61 on a good day so even though I like to do a concert sometimes I can No because the big guy is right in your face right in my face that's why some of my passes are bounce passes and then I saw that Brandon Ingram wouldn't like me to be low so if I cast the LOB, he can get to the right. but if I return it to Nerlens, can you?

That's

great

and I think one thing I thought of when they say the game slows down is that you're not looking at your defender, you're not even looking at the two defenders that are closest. for you you're looking at the guy on the block you're really looking at seeing the whole five man defense right there at that time yeah because I made a run on the ball screen and now every time I have the ball and the guys who protect me with a ball screen I never think about the guards who protect me in Nerlens so there are no stats for this yet but there should be a stat at some point for big men who dive and hit other people's shots exactly exactly and that's something that Nerlens does at night and I don't do it for Steve-o you know Nerlens and Steven give up night after night so the guys can get this shot that doesn't go unnoticed, well we'll go to the next play Here this is a big overtime how did you know Gallo was going to be there?

I tell you the truth I was about to shoot I was absolutely about to shoot that Gallo yelled at me Gallo yelled so I didn't even know Gallo was there so Gallo and that's where we talked about communication and conversation and although I can reading and all that. I don't mean I don't want to hear, I don't mean let me know when you're hoping you know for the most part. i was just about to let it go let it run so let it go slow if you can so i'm pushing it pause pause so while i'm pushing it to the right now i basically have a moving screen and steven correct because the guy that's trying to get me up is back and it's literally a moving screen shot so the guy here for Philly can't get for me I'm just weaving behind Steven and then I knew I was going to have a three open but Gallo yeah look look and I saw them and why not find me this is so instinctive for you here to let go of what is a good shot for has been a great opportunity since you were a kid o yeah yeah my dad coached me when i was younger just when i was little when i started playing my dad was always my coach and i was really good at that time and even when we played yba my dad used to make me dribble we played where you know what you had to stay inside the lines and my dad would make me pass it to my teammates and the only way I could score was to go get the rebound so one of the biggest things and me passing by trying to make sure I give it to the guy to where c and shoot it you know I gave up the gate pass last night cut and threw it and it just bounced one too many times got it and hit someone in the corner for three but as we ran down the court I told FERC my bad because that it's my job to put you in the best possible situation on time on target exactly it matters whether or not people realize what this moment is like i mean you talk about communication it all comes together overtime to feed the big home wind what is this moment like when it was a season of great feelings it was kind of the up and down force it was just a great feeling and I love it with down low it was great this is the last thing we want to show you it's just one of the other ways. that you have opened these years through your big man, what has that element added? added a lot?

Is it something new especially for me in my career? seeing Dennis and Shea and Ferg and how fast they cut and stuff, I know I'm a great evaluator, I mean, everyone has to know what they bring to the team. It might not kill you with a little bit of speed or backdooring, but I know I can open those guys up and I think as we continue to learn to combine that with the rhythm of our pick-and-rolls and find what we don't think we just will make a better team Chris thank you very much for your time no problem downstairs first appreciate is that you