Chris Paul came up huge in Game 4 of the Phoenix Suns’ series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite a shoulder injury that has limited his ability to put his fingerprints all over a game in the unique way that he does, Paul was excellent, leading the team with 18 points, nine assists, three rebounds, and three steals en route to a 100-92 win. With the victory, Phoenix tied the series up at two games a piece and took back homecourt advantage from L.A.
As for why Paul played so well, it turns out a potential reason was the most powerful motivating force that Paul can channel into greatness: spite. After the game, Paul spoke to Rachel Nichols of ESPN and revealed that Suns head coach Monty Williams told him that the team planned to sit him for the game due to his pesky shoulder. Paul, in turn, responded in the most Chris Paul way imagineable.
"[Coach] told me he was gonna sit me. … I told him hell nah."
—CP3 wasn’t going to miss a pivotal Game 4 (via @Rachel__Nichols ) pic.twitter.com/8OrJ4sr2dV
— ESPN (@espn) May 30, 2021
“Met with coach before the game, told me he was gonna sit me,” Paul said. “Told me he was gonna sit me tonight. I told him, ‘Hell naw, just give me a couple minutes, see what I can do.’”
The series very much is not won yet for the Suns, but if this is how Paul is going to react to being told he’s being held out due to his bad shoulder, perhaps Williams should tell him this before every game.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/chris-paul-monty-williams-sit-game-4-shoulder-injury-suns-lakers-video/