Chris Paul: His Most Underrated Season – CrownHoops
Chris Paul is one of the best point guards in the NBA. Scratch that, he is not just one of the best in the league, he is one of the best point guards in NBA history. The man is unquestionably a top-10 point guard of all time and one could make a case for even being in the top-five. What is insane is that he is still playing at a high-level today, despite many predicting he would start running out of gas this year.
Yet, he has still willed a young Oklahoma City Thunder team into the playoff picture and been a great mentor to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Paul’s accolades speak for themselves. 10-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team member, nine-time All-Defensive Team member, and former Rookie of the Year. That is just scratching the surface of his resume. With all of this in mind, it makes sense for him to be the next player we look at in the “Most Underrated Season,” series. Without further adieu, let’s take a look a CP3’s most overlooked campaign of his Hall of Fame career. One might be surprised.
Chris Paul: His 2013-14 Campaign
During his third season in a Los Angeles Clippers uniform, Chris Paul was one of the most rounded players in the league. His play helped lead the team to a win-loss record of 57-25, good enough to win the Pacific Division. In the postseason, the Clippers would make it to Western Conference Semifinals where they would fall to the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games. That was the same Thunder team that was led by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
On top of their impressive record, Los Angeles also finished first in offensive rating (112.1) and ninth in defensive rating (104.8). Much of this team’s success can be attributed to the leadership and all-around play of Chris Paul. Do not forget, this was the lob city Clippers which also possessed the likes of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. All in all, the 2013-14 season was one of Chris Paul’s best years of his career and his numbers help prove this statement.
CP3’s 2013-14 Numbers
During the 2013-14 season, Chris Paul was a legitimate two-way player. He won his last of his six career steal titles with an average of 2.5 steals per game. On top of that, he also tallied 19.1 points, 10.7 assists (good enough for one of his four career assists titles), and 4.3 rebounds, a solid rebounding total for a point guard. Not to mention, his advanced numbers from this campaign were very impressive as well.
CP3 tallied an offensive rating of 125 to go with a defensive rating of 103. He also came away with a true shooting percentage of 58.0 percent and an assist percentage of 48.9 percent. On top of all this, Paul averaged a player efficiency rating of 25.9, a steal percentage of 3.5 percent, and a win share of 12.2. Looking at all these impressive numbers, it makes sense that Chris Paul was a dark horse MVP candidate during the 2013-14 season. With all of this in mind, the 2013-14 campaign is clearly the most underrated year of Chris Paul’s career.
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