Chris Paul is currently playing in his first career NBA Finals. It took Paul 16 seasons to get to this moment and at the beginning of the series, it looked like Paul was about to win his first title. The Suns blew out the Milwaukee Bucks in Games 1 and 2, all while shutting down players like Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday. Unfortunately, Paul seemed flustered while in Milwaukee, and the Bucks were able to come back and tie the series up at two games apiece.
In Game 5, Paul had a strong fourth quarter but it was too little too late as the Bucks won their third-straight game, putting the Suns on the verge of elimination. Now, Paul needs to have one of the best games of his life if he wants to change the narratives about him being a choker.
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Interestingly enough, one analyst has decided not to go too hard on Paul. While speaking to Dan Patrick, former NBA star Reggie Miller explained that Paul deserves some leniency since he had a tough road to the finals. Effectively, Miller wants to give Paul a pass that many other NBA stars simply wouldn’t be afforded under any other circumstances.
“I think Chris Paul will probably get a pass because of his age and because of the hard knocks that have taken Chris Paul to even get to the NBA Finals,” Miller said. Immediately after this take hit social media, fans began to direct some scrutiny towards the former Pacers sharpshooter as they felt like any other player would get criticized into oblivion for choking away a Finals series.
Of course, there is still time for Paul to fix things for the Suns, however, fans aren’t ready to let him off the hook if they lose tonight. Paul’s failures have added up over the years, and this would be his largest one.