‘You Can Never Get Too High’: Chris Paul Re-establishing Veteran Presence with Spurs

Between an aspiring point guard in Stephon Castle and a generational talent in Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul has plenty to work with in San Antonio, and it seems he's already taken advantage.

Quentin Corpuel | Oct 24, 2024

Oct 12, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Frost Bank Center. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

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San Antonio Spurs

Chris Paul isn’t just old for a current San Antonio Spur. He’s old in comparison to the entire NBA.

Only LeBron James and P.J. Tucker clear Paul, who’s 39 years old, in age. Paul’s experience is going to be especially valuable to the Spurs, whose roster mostly consists of players born in 1999 or later.

One way of establishing a veteran presence (besides a body of work) is uplifting teammates, and on Tuesday, he did just that.

“Of all the point guards I’ve seen over the years, one of the things that you have to have in common with all of them is a grit, a will,” Paul said. “Aside from talent and skill, you’ve got to have some type of chip on your shoulder.”

Who was he talking about? That’s right, Stephon Castle, the heir apparent at point guard in San Antonio.

“Steph definitely got that,” Paul said. “I think that was the first thing that I paid attention to. He's not looking for somebody to be his friend or whatnot. He’s a hooper, and I respect it.”

Oct 12, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) shoots in the second half against the Utah Jazz at Frost Bank Center. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Paul also had nice things to say about a player that’s easy to praise in Victor Wembanyama.

“I feel like every time I talk about Vic, I just talk about how intelligent he is,” Paul said, “how smart he is, how hard he works, how much it makes sense why he is the way that he is.”

With the Spurs' season-opener on the horizon, Paul also offered a reminder that ups and downs are expected. Especially with a roster as young as San Antonio’s, growing pains feel inevitable. Paul not only recognizes that, but was vocal about it to the team as a date with the Dallas Mavericks is on deck.

“We gotta show up day in and day out. We gotta compete. We just got to take it one day at a time,” Paul said. “I was telling some of the guys, we could come out and win our first game by a lot, we could come out and lose it by a lot, but it’s a long season.

"You can never get too high, never get too low.”