Old friends West, Paul ready for playoff meeting
OAKLAND >> Warriors forward David West still remembers the first time Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul screamed at him.
It was at the 2002 Nike All-America Camp. West, then a senior at Xavier, stood in a crowded gym in Indianapolis when Paul rushed to tell him some important news.
“Hey man!” a 17-year old Paul screamed to West, who was a camp counselor. “I’m going to Wake Forest! With your coach, Coach (Skip) Prosser (West’s college coach)!”
Now, 16 years later, after forming an All-Star duo in with the New Orleans Hornets, West and Paul will enter a playoff series for the first time as opponents.
The two entered the NBA during a pivotal period for the Hornets. Thirteen months before West was selected 18th overall in 2003, Hornets owner George Shinn moved the team from Charlotte to New Orleans. Two months after drafting Paul in 2005, the team temporarily moved to Oklahoma City because of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
No matter the location, West and Paul grew into a dynamic duo. Over seven seasons together, they combined for six All-Star selections and turned the Hornets into a playoff team. Coached by Byron Scott, the Hornets won 56 games in 2007-08 and 49 in 200809. In the 2007-08 season, Paul averaged 21.1 points, 11.6 assists, and was second in MVP voting to Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. West averaged 20.6 points and 8.9 rebounds as the Hornets finished second in the Western Conference, one game behind the Lakers.
“We were a pretty good group,” West said. “I think we grew up together in terms of learning how to be effective, get our NBA legs under us. Do some building stages early on.”
As quickly as the team ascended, obstacles began to arise. After losing to San Antonio in the 2008 Western Conference semifinals, the Hornets lost to Denver in the first round in 2009. After a 3-6 start in 200910, Scott was fired, much to Paul’s chagrin.
“I felt like, maybe somebody would have at least consulted with me and asked how I felt before it happened,” Paul told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “It’s not to get my approval, but we feel we should know about the decision before it takes place.”
In late January 2010, Paul tore cartilage in his left knee, punting the team’s playoff chances. By the summer of 2011, Paul and West were gone. Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers and West signed as a free agent with the Indiana Pacers.
“Who knows what that team would’ve done had we stayed together,” West said. “It was a good run. It was really like a starting point for both of us in our careers.”
“There’s no special formula,” West added. “Everything damn near has to go right. That’s from health to roster to coaching to moves in terms of front office. Everything’s gotta be damn near perfect, and very few organizations achieve that sort of chemistry and synergy. We just weren’t prepared in terms of our careers to take that next step.”
• In the Warriors’ Western Conference finals series against Houston, Shaun Livingston knows exactly what his role is going to be.
“Just coming in off the bench and being a stabilizer,” he said. “Making sure that we’re doing all of the little things that we need to be doing. Getting the right play calls, getting the right people the ball, being aggressive myself, boxing out, right rotations.”
Livingston, an 11-year NBA veteran, has been with the Warriors four seasons, providing a stable and consistent force throughout three NBA Finals appearances and two championships.
So far this postseason, he’s averaging 7.3 points on 46.8 percent shooting in 17.7 minutes a game.
“Shaun is going to be a mainstay,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “No matter who we play, Shaun will play.”
Livingston is a smart, savvy veteran whom Kerr trusts in high-pressure situations. With the Warriors traveling to Houston today, Livingston said he’s looking forward to opening a series on the road for the first time with this team.
“I like it,” Livingston said. “It sets that tone. You’ve got to be ready, appropriate fear.”
It’s something that he says will keep the Warriors sharp and engaged.
“On the road when you go on a run, they can curb that run,” he said. “Their crowd gets into it and now you’ve got to build it again. You’ve got to build another one.”
Livingston said he’s excited for this series to begin — mainly because then the Warriors are inching closer to where they want to be.
“Playing to get to The Finals, playing for a championship,” Livingston said. “That attention to detail and that intensity that we have to play with has got to be at an all-time high. We’ve got to leave it all out there.”