Chris Paul to Pau Gasol: I’m Not One of Your Kids
by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
Though it was certainly an entertaining, seesaw affair that more than lived up to the hype, one could argue that the best moments from last night’s Clippers/Lakers showdown had little to do with actual basketball.
We had plenty of hard fouls and cheap shots (highlighted by the Artist Formerly Known As Ron Artest hilariously wrestling Blake Griffin to the ground for no good reason), and things stayed testy between the two teams even when the final score was no longer in doubt.
As the Lakers put the finishing touches on a 96-91 win at home, Pau Gasol took exception to something Chris Paul said, and tapped the Clippers’ superstar point guard on his head. This enraged CP3, who tapped Gasol back while yapping away. Paul explained his side of the story to the media.
From the AP:
The game featured plenty of sharp play, including several moments of brilliance from [Kobe] Bryant and Blake Griffin, but also six technical fouls, plenty of extracurricular talk, and the ejection of the Lakers’ Josh McRoberts for scrapping with Reggie Evans. That’s all before Gasol’s postgame gesture prompted a furious response from Paul, who had four points and 12 assists for the Clippers in his return from a five-game absence because of a strained left hamstring. “He touched the top of my head, and I didn’t like that,” said Paul. “You know what I mean. I don’t know if Pau’s got kids, but don’t touch my head like I’m one of your kids. I don’t know what his intentions were, like, ‘I’ll treat him like little Chris.’ I don’t know if he’s got kids, but I’m not one of them.”
Gasol, who has no kids, insisted he was misunderstood. “I’m sorry he felt that way,” the Spanish 7-footer said. “I do that all the time with my teammates. Nothing mean about it.” When asked what Paul yelled at him after the game, Gasol called it “just trash.”
An amused Kobe Bryant — who also exchanged pleasantries with CP3 in the closing moments — chalked it all up to Chris Paul being “chippy”, which he appreciates and can relate to.
The third and final regular season installment of this turf war will take place on April 4th. And if we’re truly lucky, these two teams will get a chance to battle it out come Playoff time.
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He was talking tough the whole way and then he got all gangster on pau.
An over reaction on Paul’s part.
As far as i know the USA is not one of those places.
Its more middle eastern countries and Muslim countries.
were they dont like it when you touch there heads.
But this has nothing to do with Chris Paul.
Competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field. This is indeed a rivalry on many levels, just because it is now only getting competitive doesnt de-value it. Do you think when Cheryl Miller was beating Reggie consistently that it wasn’t a rivalry? Just because as he got older it became more competetive, didnt make it more of a rivalry.
I’m curious what needs to take place before it constitutes as a full fledged rivalry? At what point did lakers vs celtics become a rivalry and when did that stop, or is it still a rivalry?
He only jawed with Kobe like once in the Finals and in that case Kobe was the instigator. Other than that, I don’t remember dude getting into it with anyone after like his rookie year. People just gave him his respect and kept it moving.
DAMN. Is it just me or what. Chris Humphries could not dunk to save himself.” – (took one try to find something ridiculous.)
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“Budding? Sure, it’s budding. It’s definitely must see TV, and the teams don’t like each other, obviously. So yes, a rivalry in the making, but not a rivalry. If someone asked you to name the NBA rivalries, you can’t honestly say would have Clippers/Lakers on that list”
Pais – me, hello
My reference to the media was simply in response to the comment nbk made regarding ‘no one will call this a rivalry’, nbk’s a smart guy, he knew that. Fact is I didn’t even read the article. Whether by definition or popular opinion this can easily be called a rivalry. Things need to be taken in context, why can’t we simply make a distinction between a simple rivalry and “The Greatest NBA Rivalries of all Time”? It diminishes nothing, you’re getting entirely carried away at this point. You show your respect for the great rivalries by refusing acknowledge any rivalry that hasn’t pitted two teams against through playoffs over a period of…how many years does it take anyways? What’s the criteria, is there any? Absurd and redundant.
Second, referencing the media was not intended to bolster my argument that this is a rivalry, it was a rebuttal to a single, solitary point made by nbk.
Third, apologies for not being clear. ‘Absurd’, is the idea that to acknowledge this as being rivalry diminishes anything. ‘Redundant’, is this entire debate.
Fourth, neither I nor anyone else has attempted to contend that this is anything beyond a simple rivalry.
And lastly, although I don’t have a juice box, I swear to you, I’m actually eating an orange right now (hilarious I know).
I gotta side with nbk. I live in LA and honestly the only people who are on the Clippers are their true supporters and a few bandwagon fans other than that it’s all purple and gold. Until the city is divided it’s not a rivalry.”
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Saint Nicholas of Myra is who was real. And he wasn’t Santa Clause. – Yankees v Mets is a rivalry because they met in the world series in 2000. Previously to 1997 they had never played each other. Ever. – You know nothing about the Giants v Jets rivalry obviously, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. The Jets were initially created in a smaller football league, and were literally marketed against the Giants. But the two teams don’t even play each other regularly, it’s not really a rivalry among teams anymore, it’s a rivalry among fans.
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Which the Clippers don’t have a comparable amount of. Definitely not enough to merit a fan rivalry in LA. – next
http://youtu.be/6ntDYjS0Y3w
I guess I can understand where CP3 was coming from, but that doesn’t explain why he acted like such a DRAMA QUEEN, Maybe cause they were LOOSING. CP3 was being a sore loser plain an simple.
In sports, you generally call a matchup a rivalry when each team has done something to hurt the other. Like eliminate them from the playoffs in a competitive series. Nobody is going to call them rivals the next time they play. Nobody is going to even call them rivals if they meet in the playoffs. Let them build some more animosity before we go labeling this a rivalry. That’s How I feel.”
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