Chris Paul Hits Summer Reset Button Thanks to Family

Phoenix Suns PG Chris Paul looks forward to the season after having a restful summer, spending time with family.

Entering his 18th year in the league, Phoenix Suns veteran point guard Chris Paul spoke to the media on Monday about a variety of topics. Among them were the importance of this past summer. 

After a historic Game 7 blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks last season in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Suns needed time away from basketball to relax and get ready for the 2022-23 NBA season. 

This relaxation was unavailing to a Suns team riddled with drama this offseason. Elements like the Kevin Durant trade rumors, Robert Sarver's investigation and now the Jae Crowder situation were thrown at the team. Despite this all, Paul was still able to enjoy the time off. 

Suns' Chris Paul will enter his 18th NBA season after leading the Suns in assists and steals (10.8 APG, 1.9 SPG)

During Media Day, he explained the role the summer has for NBA players and how important it is for players to be away from the team and with their families. Paul explained, "I think the summer is a time where guys get a chance to be on their own and be with their families."

The NBA offseason is crucial for players who often spend more time at the arena than at home with their families. Paul went on to say, "For me, personally, this was probably the best summers I've had in my career, just getting real time with my family." 

"I feel good. I feel really good, but it was more like I said getting that time with my family. I think that was the biggest plus this offseason." 

His Instagram posts showed a similar story:

When asked about the difficulty of a trade during ones career and how that affects the player, Paul again stressed the family aspect, "...they go to a particular city, and their family stays back. So, you play in this league long enough, you go home, you're going to see what a lot of different things feels like."  

Speaking from personal experience, Paul claimed "For me, I think it's just like my family, it's being away from them. Obviously that's a choice that we make. But playing away from my wife and my kids for the past few years, it's probably been the toughest part." 

The duo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker will lead a hungry Suns team looking to make another Finals run after the NBA off-season

Paul would continue the family theme when asked if he feels any other feelings heading into this season, with suspicion of retirement looming. 

"Yeah. My kids are out of school today. So my wife brought them in town to see me yesterday, surprised me, and they fly out this evening. So that's everything. For me, it's about them. They're 13 and 10 now, and so any and everything that I do is going to be about them." 

The summer wasn't all just relaxation for Paul, however. He would add that throughout the summer he "...just sort of put my head down and did the work. You know, just worked all summer long. It's balance, I think that's what we all are trying to find. You know, work balance, life balance, family balance." 

Paul improving in the offseason is a great sign for the Suns. He led the Suns in total Win Shares with 9.4, a stat that generates the expected value a specific player brings to a specific team. This stat takes into consideration a players offensive rating, defensive rating and minutes played.

The seasoned veteran has been the anchor to multiple franchises throughout his prolific career and is certainly no stranger to NBA off-seasons. But something was special about this past summer for Paul. 

His children are getting older, and he mentioned that "It's probably one of the coolest summer because little Chris got to work out with me a lot this summer." The family man will come into the season expected to lead a Suns team, who the season previous, broke the Suns franchise record for wins with 64.  

He concluded with his goal over the summer, which was to "...try to make sure that I can be the best player for our team coming into this season. So, that was my biggest focus." 

The Suns will begin the regular season at home against the Dallas Mavericks on Oct. 17.

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