Now that he's chasing Stephen Curry, Chris Paul is even more dangerous

Chris Paul is a born underdog, and now that Stephen Curry and the Warriors are all the rage, Paul might be right in his element and ready to lead the Clippers where they've never gone.

By Brad Botkin

Nov 6, 2015 at 10:36 am ET • 5 min read

As the Clippers and Warriors took the floor for the start of the second half of what felt more like a conference finals game than an early November tilt, ESPN's J.A. Adande was wrapping up a story about his asking Chris Paul how he felt about all the attention Stephen Curry has been getting.

Paul's response?

"How soon they forget."

In other words, Chris Paul isn't conceding an inch to the Golden Boy. Chris Paul has never conceded an inch in his life -- and he certainly didn't concede anything in a 20-point first half performance that saw him attacking the Warriors from every conceivable angle. Paul, in fact, was terrific throughout the game (24 points, nine assists, three steals), and noticeably aggressive, something Doc Rivers was clearly happy about in his post-1st-quarter interview. Whether that aggressiveness was a function of just Paul being Paul, or the fact that it was such a big game, or something more of an intention to prove something to the NBA's favorite new toy Stephen Curry, we can't be sure.

Either way, there's no denying that the upper hand in this matchup has shifted decidedly to Curry, who is unequivocally the best point guard in basketball right now, and arguably the top player period. Frankly, if there is another point guard that is challenging Curry for that title right now, it probably isn't Paul. It's Russell Westbrook.

This is the current plight of Paul -- which, if anything, could be a pretty big blessing in disguise. Think about it. Paul is a pitbull. An undersized, angry little terror who was seemingly born to fight for his place. But for what seems like his entire career, and certainly since he's been in Los Angeles, he's been the unquestioned standard of point guard greatness. Peers have come and gone in being considered anything close to his equal.

The throne was his. And there wasn't even a fight for it.

Now there is, and it's Paul having to do the fighting. That might put him right in his element. Stephen Curry? To Paul, that's just another big name who has come along to try and take what's his. Deron Williams was also supposed to be that guy at one time. That's not to compare Deron Williams -- even a healthy one -- to Stephen Curry, but he was pretty great. He was right there with Paul, who of course did what he does and prominently separated himself in that debate.

Paul has been on the other side of this, too, the younger star looking to overtake the veteran for positional supremacy. Two-time MVP Steve Nash was the man on top for a good while, and Paul pretty much supplanted him by the time Curry's eventual coach Steve Kerr dismantled that Suns' identity. Derrick Rose came along and won MVP, but CP3 -- if as the somewhat unfair beneficiary of Rose's injury misfortune -- endured that challenger as well.

As we've watched an influx of point guards in a perimeter-based league flood the talent pool, Paul has remained the standard for years. Even as he moved from small market to big market to antagonist of the league, he's remained the unequivocal leader for all lead guards. With that seemingly being taken away from him one Curry flurry at a time, Paul now gets to play the role of underdog, which on the surface sounds insane. But again, as we dig deeper, it actually may be the element in which Paul is most perfectly suited to thrive -- the perfect balance of expectation and circumstance for a guy whose always been ready to prove himself, but for so long hasn't really had to.

His team, on the other hand, has never been the one on top. Even with an embarrasing amount of talent, the Clippers, whether due to the crazy Western competition or some inherent flaw the roster possesses, have been unable to accomplish the arbitrary standards imposed upon them -- never so much as reaching the conference finals as Stephen Curry and the Warriors have blown right past them and everyone else to the top of the NBA world.

Paul is still a top-10 NBA player, so this isn't in any way an attack on him. A few guys around him have just become so impossibly great that the expectations we have for him, by extension, have changed. Paul's been passed by younger, budding stars like Curry and Anthony Davis. Westbrook's alien technology play has also catapulted his expectations above Paul's. Now Paul is expected to come up short, much like was the case in the first round against San Antonio last year.

His series-winning shot was supposed to erase the doubt in his ability to lead a team to the next level. Instead, his team's entirely avoidable collapse only increased the scrutiny. But that allows for a looseness in CP3's play moving forward. It's fine if he doesn't produce like the best point guard in the league. It's fine if he doesn't lead the Clippers to the No. 1 seed in the West. Nobody is expecting this to happen. The torch has been passed, or rather ripped from his hands.

That doesn't mean the fire is extinguished. Perhaps it has re-lit that flame, even. We've seen a dismissed Dirk Nowitzki use that fire to commit arson in the West as he led his team to an unexpected Finals berth and eventual championship. Years after he was accepted as at the top of the game and in the MVP conversations, Nowitzki reminded people that circumstances can change and forgotten names can be forced back into the forefront of the conversation.

If Paul were going to draw inspiration in reminding people how soon they forget, it would be from Dirk's journey. The dynamics are different with the historic stretch-4 and a historic point guard, but the message is still the same. Cultures move on from one trend to the next. And Paul is no longer that trend. That may be the best thing for him because the motivation goes from living up to expectations to reminding people how they came to be in the first place. In our prisoner-of-the-moment world, perhaps we have forgotten exactly how great Chris Paul is, and has been for a long time. And perhaps in his intent to remind us of as much, Paul is now in his best position to lead the Clippers where they've never been able to go.