“They Killed Him”: Chris Paul Revisits Tragic Death of ‘Pops’, and NCAA Tribute

A few hours ago, the Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade released another episode of his new podcast ‘The Why with Dwyane Wade’. By inviting 12x NBA All-Star Chris Paul as a guest, the former player chose to dive deep into a meaningful conversation about certain aspects of the latter’s life.

In the middle of the talk, Wade highlighted how the first book he wrote back in 2012 acted as a form of therapy since it allowed him to lay out details of his previous life and the hardships he had to overcome to become the person he is today. Knowing that Chris Paul himself recently penned down his own book, Wade was curious to know how the Golden State Warriors player felt “letting some[thing] personal go out to the world like that”. Paul described his experience of writing the book as “tough”. Despite the fact that he had filled many of the pages by writing personal messages to his various family members, Paul recalled that the main crux of the book was about the experiences he shared with his grandfather, with special emphasis on the latter’s tragic death.

“Through the process, I realized that the night that my grandfather was killed, I know what I saw through my lens,” said Paul. He went on to describe how writing the book gave him an opportunity to interact with his family members. It helped him understand how they felt in the aftermath of the tragedy. Paul recalled the first time that he heard the news while watching a high school football game. The moment probably left the future NBA player in disbelief, since he had just spent some quality time with his grandfather the day before.

“I start walking out to where my car was, and that’s when I see one of my cousins who grabbed me and the first thing he said is ‘They killed him’,” Chris Paul recalled. Upon reaching his grandfather’s house, the NBA player recalled the scene as being “from a movie” as lights flashed from all directions and yellow tape surrounded certain areas of the place.

Losing a loved one is never an easy thing to experience, especially someone who was taken in an unnatural manner before their time. Writing the book and reliving the experience would not have been an effortless task for the 2013 All-Star Game MVP, but it would have provided him with some closure that he couldn’t have gotten during that awful time.

Chris Paul recalls paying tribute to his grandfather during an NCAA game

Chris Paul was still in high school when his grandfather was killed. With a basketball game set to take place five days later, the young player reportedly was unsure whether he would appear for the same. After making the decision to play and dedicate the game to his grandfather, the future NBA star delivered one of his most memorable performances by scoring an astonishing 61 points.

Paul recalled the game during his interview with Dwyane Wade. He stated that he kept scoring without keeping track of his total score. Once he had achieved the remarkable feat, he recalled running up and “falling in my dad’s arms”, overwhelmed by their recent loss and celebrating the feat Paul created in his name.

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The moment was a memorable one not only for him but also for Wade, who got to know Chris Paul as someone who “took a moment” that he had and made it not about himself but about his family.