Chris Paul has officially returned to the Los Angeles Clippers for a second stint with the franchise, where he will reunite with former Houston Rockets teammate James Harden. Speaking at his introductory press conference, Paul made it clear he believes the duo has “unfinished business” in their pursuit of an NBA championship.
Paul and Harden previously teamed up in Houston from 2017 to 2019, coming close to dethroning the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. Despite their on-court success, the partnership was not without tension, including a widely circulated clip from a heated verbal exchange during Game 3 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals.
During his Clippers introduction, Paul addressed the clip from that game where he appeared to have a heated exchange with Harden, downplaying the seriousness of the moment.
“Yeah, we talked about it,” Paul told ClutchPoints. “And we talked about just the history of obviously being there in Houston. And it’s funny man, for that clip that goes around, there was a lot of stuff, funnier stuff than that. That was just sort of our relationship”.
“But I think that’s what made that team so good,” Paul continued. “We got on each other in different situations, but that team, I can honestly say it was one of the most fun teams I’ve ever been on in my career”.
During their run with the Rockets, the backcourt duo helped elevate Harden to MVP status in the 2018–19 season, where he averaged 36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Now, Paul is confident they have another shot at success in Los Angeles.
“James [Harden] is one of those guys that loves to be in the gym all day long,” Paul added. “So it’s wild that you get this opportunity again after those two years and the success that we had and we definitely know we have unfinished business, so we get a chance to see what’s going on here”.