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Old take from a couple months ago, but is he right? I've always thought Chris Paul was a good defender personally, so this was an interesting take.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2022/05/16/patrick-beverley-on-chris-paul-he-cant-guard-he-literally-cant-guard/

He's obviously crazy in general, but in the merciless mismatch hunting that is modern basketball, CP3 is a weak link on defense.

Beverley later said he meant Paul can’t guard only in comparison to other top-10 all-time point guards: “I’m going to judge him based off exactly what you guys tell me that he is.”

Probably other TOP-10 guys would have troubles guarding Luka in May in their season #17… At least some of them.

You can be a good defender and still get hunted for mis matches.

Gobert, 2021 2nd round game 6?

maverick_41 wrote:Beverley later said he meant Paul can’t guard only in comparison to other top-10 all-time point guards: “I’m going to judge him based off exactly what you guys tell me that he is.”

Probably other TOP-10 guys would have troubles guarding Luka in May in their season #17… At least some of them.

Well, CP3 was struggling against Brunson too. To be fair, out of the top point guards probably only half would for sure lock him down - Payton, Isiah, Stockton, Kidd, maybe Magic cause of his height but he lacked lateral quickness. Nash would definitely get torched. CP3 is better than Nash on that end, but far from being among the better defenders at this point.

Paul has always been weak defender when it comes to fast and big PGs. He haven't been an athlete for over a decade (even in his hornets days really) so a lot of guys like Westbrook, Rose, Dwill, etc hunted him even on his prime and very successfully. This just gotten worse with age.

Bev is 100% right. Paul never been very good individual defender. What Paul is great at is his defensive IQ not necessarily his 1v1 prowess.

I do think he has gotten few too many defensive selections just because his name. Similar to Bryant.

At this point, yeah Paul is a bad defender.

He's also 37 though so...what does anyone expect? It's not like he was Gary Payton in his prime to begin with anyway.

Beverly is the guy you gamble on, no coach puts emphasis on guarding Beverly, so from his POV, no one in the NBA plays defense.

Depends. Would Bev walk through Bedford-Stuy alone? Cause it just may be a lunatic we’re looking for

CP3 was an elite defender in his prime, but I guess father time is still undefeated.

In addition to his age, his back court mate is Booker so there's nowhere to hide. You can hide one guy easy enough, two is very, very difficult. If the current version of Crowder is on the floor with them, it's basically three and that's impossible.

In his prime he absolutely was. It’s asinine to try to judge a players defense, especially a perimeter one, at 37 years old.

as has been alluded to, at CP3's age, the question should never be "is Chris Paul a good defender?" rather it has to be "was Chris Paul a good defender?". and yeah, i have to say he was - though perhaps a tad overrated due to high steal numbers.

but honestly, at this point, it's like asking if sidney moncrief is a good defender. i mean, you put him in the league today, probably not.

These two just don't like each other lol. CP's burn from May was way better:

SeattleJazzFan wrote:as has been alluded to, at CP3's age, the question should never be "is Chris Paul a good defender?" rather it has to be "was Chris Paul a good defender?". and yeah, i have to say he was - though perhaps a tad overrated due to high steal numbers.

but honestly, at this point, it's like asking if sidney moncrief is a good defender. i mean, you put him in the league today, probably not.

Moncrief at age 60? Or in his prime?

Pretty sure in his prime his size and tenacity would still translate.

The stats disagree.

Also, CP3 is almost 40.

Chris Paul for most of his career was a really good defensive player. It has only been over the last few years that father time has begun to catch up to him. Even now I don't feel like he is a bad defender though.

Paul was absolutely elite four years ago. I was a Rockets fan then, so I saw him play all the time. I'd assume he was also just as elite, if not more, for years before that. As a longtime Rockets' fan, I can say with confidence that Paul in his prime was a better defender than Beverley in his prime (and Bev was probably my favorite player at one point). Does Paul suck on defense now, though? Maybe. He's old and small, so I guess it makes sense that guys can iso on him pretty effectively.

Wasn't this already talked about?

Beverly just up in his feelings about CP3. Trying to slander CP3 in the twilight of his career is right up Beverly's alley. Dude is a joke.

And best defender in the world is even more comical.

Beverly tried to walk back his own idiotic claim in this very interview.

Paul WAS a good defensive player in his prime, he's well past his prime now.