The Dagger: Chris Paul’s best chance is now

Chris Paul, unquestionably, is at the top of my list of players I want to see win a championship.

I’ve rooted for him since his days at Wake Forest and especially during his first six years in the league with the former New Orleans Hornets (now the Pelicans).

He has consistently been sensational and never shortchanges fans. Since he entered the league in 2006, he has averaged 18 points and 9 assists and a given his teams an extra punch to make them a threat.

In the playoffs he becomes more aggressive, which signifies  his desire to win. His scoring average rises to about 20.5 points per game and his assists dip to 8.3 a game.

For some reason, however, he has never been able to get it done. He has never won a championship the 13 seasons he competed in the playoffs.

But this year, the basketball gods have seemingly paved a path for Chris Paul to finally win a championship.

Something has always gone wrong for Paul the playoffs. He didn’t play with enough talent in New Orleans; he suffered from the dreaded Clippers curse during his years in Los Angeles, never making it out of the second round of the playoffs; and he and James Harden simply didn’t like each other in Houston.

After his stop with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a championship seemed farther away than closer.

Then, he joined the hottest team in the NBA bubble last year. Paul and the Phoenix Suns are now two wins  away from going to the Finals and competing for a championship.

The Suns deserve the bulk of the credit for their success and to be competing for a spot in the Finals.

But luck cannot be overlooked.

Yes, they are a great team with an emerging star in Devin Booker and plenty of great young talent like DeAndre Ayton and Cameron Payne.

Do they make it to the western conference finals without the help of injuries, though?

The Lakers looked poised to take over the their first-round matchup against the Suns when Anthony Davis played like the healthy version of himself. Then he called it quits.

The absence of Jamal Murray and Will Barton made Denver look like an eighth seed in the second round. When the Nuggets are healthy, however, they are a championship contender and certainly wouldn’t have been swept by the Suns.

The Clippers’ superstar Kawhi Leonard went down in the second round against the Utah Jazz and has no return timetable. The Clippers are still good but not as big of a threat to the Suns without their leading man.

And in the Finals, Paul will get an untrustworthy Bucks team or a young Hawks team.

The basketball gods have smiled down on Chris Paul and finally – FINALLY – given him a chance to raise a banner and  collect some hardware.

There’s nothing left for Paul to do but thank the gods and execute.