Exclusive: NBA star Chris Paul on trade, Wake Forest days and his grandfather’s murder

Chris Paul has done almost everything there is to do on a basketball court. He grew up in Winston-Salem, starred at Wake Forest, was drafted No. 4 overall in the 2005 NBA draft and then went on to become a 12-time NBA all-star and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

The star of this week’s “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” multimedia project, Paul has only one major hole in his basketball résumé — an NBA championship. After being traded to Golden State in June, the 38-year-old point guard hopes to rectify that in the company of fellow stars like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Paul recently published a bestselling book called “Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, on and off the court” to honor his grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, who was murdered in Winston-Salem in 2002. Paul, then a high school senior, scored exactly 61 points in his first high school game after the murder — one for each year of his grandfather’s life.

We spoke to Paul twice for “Sports Legends” — once in Winston-Salem, where he was back home and had by chance had been traded to the Warriors a few hours beforehand, and once via Zoom. The following transcript, edited for clarity and brevity, is a compilation of the best of those conversations. A fuller version is available on the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast.

Scott Fowler: You dedicated your recent autobiography to your grandfather, Nathaniel “Papa Chilly” Jones. Describe him for us.

Chris Paul: My grandfather was everything. He had the first Black-owned service station (in the Winston-Salem, N.C., area). He was a worker and he truly loved what he did. But what he loved more than the service station was his family.

And so he was a huge part of everything that we did. He was our backbone. ... I worked at Jones Chevron often. One day it might be working the cash register. Sometimes me and my brother would run out to see who could get to somebody’s car fast enough to pump their gas. Some days we could go inside and get to help change a tire or rotating tires. This was our family business.

SF: You scored 61 points in your first high school game after his funeral, in 2002, to honor him following his murder, missing a free throw on purpose at the end. How did that happen?

CP: When I left the house to go to the game, my Aunt Rhonda looked at me and basically said: “How about something special for Papa?” And while shooting free throws before the game, I was like: “I’m gonna go for 61.”

I had 59 late in the game (the contest was played in Winston-Salem on Nov. 20, 2002, with Paul playing for West Forsyth, against Parkland).

I drove to the lane and hit a floater off the glass. It was an “and one” —I got fouled. I walked to the free-throw line, threw the ball out of bounds and walked off the court and hugged my dad, my brother, my mom — everybody. All the emotions finally came to a head.

SF: You and your grandfather were obviously very close. How did you process his death?

CP: I think that 20 years later, I’m still processing it. Sometimes just these little five-minute moments hit me. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night in tears and my wife will be like, “What’s wrong?”

And I’ll say, “There’s nothing wrong. I just miss my granddad, because all these moments around my kids and my family — I just wish he got an opportunity to take it all in.”

SF: Do you still have the ball that you used to score 61 points?

CP: Yes, it’s in the trophy case in my parents’ house, in North Carolina.

SF: On a different note, what do you think about your future after being traded to the Warriors in the summer of 2023?

CP: I’m excited…. I’m really excited.

SF: What do you think your role will be?

CP: To help us win games.

SF: You had a remarkable ACC debut in 2003 — a triple overtime, 119-114 win against UNC at Chapel Hill. What do you remember about that game?

CP: It was Roy Williams’ first ACC game also. I just remember it got so loud in that arena that at one point it was quiet.

What’s ironic is my son just left last night to fly to North Carolina. He’s going to spend a couple of days in Winston with my parents and then they’re driving him up to Carolina for the Carolina basketball camp. He went last year, too.

SF: UNC was your favorite school growing up, right?

CP: I was a die-hard Carolina fan.

SF: But they had Raymond Felton already at point guard when you were being recruited. I know UNC eventually offered a scholarship, but didn’t the Tar Heels want you to walk on at one point?

CP: Right. Couldn’t do that.

SF: During that triple-OT game in 2003, I was covering it at courtside for The Observer and remember you scoring once on Felton and yelling: “He can’t guard me!”

CP: I don’t remember that, but I probably did it. I’ve said that I don’t know how many times in my life and in my career.

SF: You left college early for the NBA Draft. Then you ended up going back to college and graduating in 2022, but from a different school in Winston-Salem. Why?

CP: Yes, I graduated from Winston-Salem State University, which is an HBCU right there in the heart of Winston-Salem. What made that so special and cool for me was that, growing up in Winston-Salem, you had Winston-Salem State over here and Wake Forest over there.

I spent a lot more time at Winston-Salem State as a kid than I did at Wake Forest, although Wake Forest forever will hold a huge special place in my heart. I donated a locker room at Wake.

But I think by me doing two years at Wake Forest and then graduating from Winston-Salem State, it just makes me that much more connected to the city where I’m from. And I’ve tried to do a lot of different work for HBCUs, trying to make sure that their voice is heard and make sure people understand the importance of them.

As for Winston-Salem, this is home and always will be. This place will forever be a part of who I am.

SF: You’re 38 years old now and still playing great basketball. What do you want your legacy to be as your career enters its final years?

CP: I think my legacy is just that I played the game the right way. And I was appreciative and brought more to the game that I took away, especially when it comes to off the court, as far as trying to make sure that guys are educated. And I hope my legacy would be my AAU program (Team CP3) and the kids that continue to play in the league after I’m gone.

SF: You devoted a chapter in your book — which I read in a single weekend and enjoyed — to Kobe Bryant. You teamed together in two Olympics and would have been teammates in the NBA, too, except for a vetoed trade.

CP: Me and Kobe always got along really well. When we played against each other, it was always ugly, but that was because I think we shared sort of the same mindset. We had so many different experiences on the Olympic teams together. But I always talk about the NBA All-Star Game stuff.

We only knew one way to play, right? So if in an all-star game somebody was coming in all casual, me and Kobe — we were trying to get to it. Everybody’s not wired like that, and that’s OK. But I appreciate that about him. He was on the same energy that I was on.

SF: What’s your parenting style with your kids?

CP: I’m hard. I’m very hard. But I also love on my kids more than anything. So it’s a little bit of both. I’m definitely the one who is not gonna give them any shortcuts.

That’s the way that’s the way I was brought up. My kids live a very abnormal life… They didn’t get a chance to choose what house they lived in.

They didn’t get a chance to choose what resources they have. But I just want them to be prepared for anything, because that’s what my folks did for me.

I woke up in the morning and had to cut grass on the weekends, you know? But with times changing and the world being different, you have to find other ways to show them that discipline.

SF: Like what?

CP: Like my son is 14 and my daughter is 10 and they don’t have social media. (They don’t) have Instagram, Snapchat and all these different things. That’s the choice we make. They have phones to text and call and that’s enough, to tell you the truth. I’m gone so often that I want them to be able to have a direct line to me.

SF: You once were a huge fan of and now have a relationship with Allen Iverson. How did that develop?

CP: My first time I played against Allen Iverson, after the game he asked me to sign my shoes. And I was weirded out like, “What’s going on?” He said that his son was a fan of mine. I was tripping, like: “But I’m a fan of yours!’

I think that’s been really cool, to have that relationship with AI. He lives in Charlotte now. When I got hurt this year in the playoffs, that was the first text message I got — it was from him. I appreciate him.

SF: What sort of impact did former Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser have on your life?

CP: You know it’s funny, I only played for Coach Prosser for two years. But Coach played such a huge part in my life and everything that I’ve done now.

Even when I was in high school before I got to Wake, he would come there and just be honest with me, like, “You need to play some defense.” When I lost him (Prosser died unexpectedly, at age 56, in 2007), that was tough. It was just so sudden. I can still see him and hear his voice.

His saying of “Never delay gratitude” is very important to me.

When you get off the phone with your loved ones — your mom, your dad, your kids, whatever — just say, “I love you.” Because you just never know.

For much more from this interview as well as other “Sports Legends” guests like Steph Curry, Roy Williams, Jeff Gordon, Mike Krzyzewski, Armanti Edwards and Dawn Staley, check out the “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” podcast. The “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” coffee table book debuts in November 2023 and is now available to pre-order — at a 20% discount — at SportsLegendsBook.com.