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Trey Murphy III Had a Hilariously Direct Request While Being Guarded by Chris Paul

Chris Paul never takes a defensive possession off.

Tyler Lauletta

New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III shoots against San Antonio Spurs center Bismack Biyombo.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III shoots against San Antonio Spurs center Bismack Biyombo. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
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Chris Paul didn’t make it to second on the NBA’s all-time steals list by playing soft on defense.

Now a veteran of two decades of professional basketball. Paul is still notoriously active as a defender, and remains one of the most cerebral players in the league.

With 2,689 career steals, he knows how to pick a pocket. But on Tuesday night, Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans tried out a new way of keeping Paul away from the ball—asking politely.

Murphy, who was mic’d up for the Pelicans’ game against the Spurs, could be heard calmly saying, “No Chris. Stop Chris,” while being hounded by Paul’s defense.

Paul finished the night with two steals, and Murphy ended the game with three turnovers, so his request wasn’t fully respected by the veteran guard. Still, Murphy and the Pelicans were able to come out on top in the end, beating the Spurs 109–103.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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