Chris Paul Credits Kobe Bryant For His Performance

Chris Paul followed Kobe Bryant and learned a lot from his greatness on the basketball court. Let’s be honest. A handful of players can match Kobe’s competitiveness and desire to win. CP3 is one of the many players who embody this mindset. He showed this during his run to the NBA Finals.

Paul is leading his way to the top and he is determined to win.

The 36-year-old is in his 16^th season in the NBA. He has an incredible performance in the postseason. Paul may be aging but he is definitely doing great on the floor. Let’s not forget that this is his very first NBA Finals performance. Paul played at a high level, and he even mentioned Kobe when describing his work ethic.

Following Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the veteran talked about the way he keeps his body in perfect shape. Paul also mentioned the words of Kobe in his answer.

“I know the work that I put it, day in and day out. I don’t think about being 36 when I step out on the court. It’s a lot of commitment, a lot of days to make sure you get your body ready for the game. But when you’re competitive, it’s nothing.

“Kobe said it some years ago, ‘you just got to fall in love with it’, the repetition of it,” Paul said of what he learned from the Lakers legend. “Some people might be like, ‘oh it’s like Groundhog Day’ but not me. Not me. Because I love to play, and I wanna play at a high level.”

Paul has talked about Kobe on multiple occasion. Early in the playoffs, Paul mentioned Kobe’s words. The Black Mamba inspired him to do better.

“I listened to it before the game and hearing Kobe just talking about the work ethic that you put in and stuff like that, and in the thing, Kobe says like, ‘Injuries, sometimes you just can’t control them.’ So, that was all that was going through my mind after the play I got hit. Once I got here to the back and they checked me out and knew if there was any way I could play, I was going to.”