Until recently, Chris Paul had never been to Alcatraz. But in his eight months (so far) with the Golden State Warriors—a team that he never expected he’d end up on—the 12-time All-Star has been making the most of his Northern California relocation. That means doing something he always wanted to do in the Bay, but never had time to: touring San Francisco’s notorious prison—while gearing up for a potential postseason sprint with the Dubs.
At this stage, the Point God has learned how to maneuver any place or situation. He’s become a stalwart on the team’s second unit by coming off the bench for the first time in his career. And despite his fiery reputation, the 38-year-old NBA veteran is evolving ever-gracefully—both on and off the court.
Against the Memphis Grizzlies in March, CP3 turned back the clock with a classic performance, notching a double-double highlighted by 14 assists and zero turnovers in an exclamatory win. No other hooper has orchestrated so many offenses as masterfully as Paul—who, at the time of this writing, has recorded at least 10 assists without a turnover 59 times, more than anyone else in NBA history. His expansive presence doesn’t end there; he’s also making plays in the wine industry. In 2022, Paul teamed up with Donae Burston of La Fête Wine Co.—one of the only Black-owned wine companies specializing in St. Tropez rosé—to bring more attention to the vast world of wine.
Over a Zoom call, the ageless Warrior riffed on vino, sharing a backcourt with Steph Curry and attending a festival with the rapper E-40, as the sun gleamed above the Bay from his San Francisco highrise on a spring afternoon.
GQ: Man, you were cooking against the Memphis Grizzlies last night.
Chris Paul: I appreciate it. You know, my son was at the game with 130 of his classmates.
That sounds like a dope field trip. What grade is he in?
8th. It’s just a crazy coincidence. He lives in LA with my wife and my daughter. But [he had] a class trip here to San Francisco. Part of that trip was they walked across the Golden Gate Bridge the other day, and I walked with him and his classmates. Then we was able to get them tickets for the game last night. I don’t always get to see him that often, so that was really cool for me.
I love that. Do you feel like those kinds of experiences have given you a new insight into life in the Bay Area versus what you thought when you were just visiting to play against the Warriors in prior years?
Oh, no question, because I never spent any time here, even throughout a playoff series. It was just hotel, then game. Hotel, then game. One of the places that I always wanted to go to was Alcatraz. I’ve been trying to go there my whole career. And I finally went, earlier this season. When I came in the league as a rookie, we just used to stay at the Ritz. That’s all I knew of San Francisco. It was all hills. I didn’t know that flats actually existed.
You ever get a chance to hang out with celebrities like E-40? He’s always at the games.
I talk to 40. He sits right there by the bench. And when I played at Houston, man, he used to get into it all the time. But it’s like a crazy respect. Just because I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, but I’ve always appreciated how much he supported the Warriors. You know what I mean?
Every city needs an E-40. You’ve hooped in a few places after beginning your career in New Orleans. How do those earlier years compare to being here now?
I was in New Orleans at a different point in my life, and I was a lot younger, so don’t nothing for me compare to New Orleans, you know what I’m saying? But there’s really good energy here. I’ll tell you this, though: it’s a difference between when the team played at Oakland and when the team plays here [in San Francisco] now. You know, I mean, it was just sort of a different crowd. Those days were different.
I feel that. At least DJ D Sharp still plays all the classic Bay Area anthems at Chase Center. Most other arena DJs just play whatever is on the radio that week.
Yeah, they’re just playing whatever’s hot on the radio.
Do you have a favorite local song?
Man, it’s gotta be [Too $hort’s] “Blow the Whistle.” They play it before jump ball; it’s the perfect thing for every game. The beat, the energy. And everybody in the crowd, it don’t matter what culture you from, if you here in the Bay, you gotta know that.
I’m curious how playing on the Warriors, particularly with Steph Curry, has been for you. It’s a blessing to see you both in the same backcourt. Have you learned anything from him, even at this stage in your career? Is there anything you’re able to teach him?
I could only speak for myself in that I appreciate Steph’s work ethic. You can always assume [whenever] someone’s playing at a high level of what the work looks like. But I know how I work and how I’m in there. I don’t care what anybody says: It’s always dope when you’re on a team and especially with a guy who plays my position and all this different type stuff and knowing that we’re going to be out there competing together. To see the work. It’s been really cool. We’ve known each other for a long time since before Steph came into the league. So to see it and to know that we both play in different kinds of ways, but they complement each other… I think for me and him, it was never a question of can we play together. We just know because we both hoop.
One thing I’ve enjoyed watching is how you instill confidence in your teammates. On one play, you got the ball from Klay Thompson at the top, and you immediately kicked it back to him with a look that said “shoot that shit.” And he drained it.
I think that’s also just the conversations that we have. A lot of people don’t see behind the scenes. They don’t see before the jump ball, when Wiggins is walking by me, when I grab him and I’ll be like, “Yo, be aggressive” Because you can get lost, with Steph’s greatness, Klay, all these different guys. And so [when Klay] passed it, he was open. He passed it to me on the wing because I was open for three. And then I bounced it right back to him. And he made the three. I always try to see the big picture. Knowing that I have a ball in my hands a lot of the time, I know what I’m capable of. But I need them guys to be confident in themselves.
Is that just instinctual for you?
Yeah, I can’t help it. A lot of coaches tell me that I need to be more aggressive and be more selfish and, you know, offensive-minded, which is something I’m actually trying to do now. And it’s so crazy because it’s the first time I’ve come off the bench. For my whole career, I’ve always been able to come in and get other guys going. And then usually in the fourth quarter, that’s when I’m like, enough, I’ma go do this. But when you come off the bench, you don’t have that couple minutes to get other guys going, you know what I mean? So I’m trying to come in the game and be aggressive right away.
I’m often lurking on NBA Twitter, so I see a lot of stuff on there. One thing I noticed is Warriors fans have been praising you, saying you’re “underrated” and “getting better with age.” Obviously the internet’s the internet, but do you feel like at this stage of your career that there is a certain part of your game that is maybe underrated or underappreciated, and that you are getting “better with age?” Or are Warriors fans just finally learning to appreciate you after all these years?
This ain’t my first time playing for a new team [laughs]. You know what I mean? So it’s always… it’s a gratitude, I just want to make sure it’s clear that there’s a gratitude. Like last night, people was like, Man, you got 14 assists, no turnovers, that is amazing. And I wasn’t trying to be mean, but I’m like, yeah, that ain’t the first time. And I didn’t realize [I had those stats]. I didn’t realize it. I’m just focused on whatever I can do to help us win.
I’ve noticed a lot of NBA personalities have started getting into wine: Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade, Gregg Popovich, Kevin Love, LeBron James, yourself. What do you think it is about wine that has sparked interest recently within the NBA community?
What’s crazy is that it’s not recent. You know, a lot of us have been into wines and drinking wine for a while now. A lot of us come into the NBA young, at 19 and unable to drink. And then when we are able to drink, you know, like at 21, 22, like the first wine that I got introduced to was riesling, and that’s pretty common because it’s a sweet wine, you know. So guys are like okay, this is cool.
But I think the [reason] wine is such a big connector in the league is that it’s like storytelling. Where is this grape from? What year was it? All of this different type of stuff. And I think what’s been cool about my wine journey is, we have a thing that we do, my wife and all of us: We keep every cork. So no matter where we at, if we are out to dinner, if we at home, wherever we at, we keep every cork. And when we at a restaurant, if we order a bottle of wine, we take the cork and we get a Sharpie and we write the date on it, and we write some about it and we keep it. The thing that we all have in life is memories, right? And so with these, it’s like “Oh, man, you remember when he had this on this night?” We got this huge, huge clear vase at home and it’s just full of corks. And sometimes I look at it and I just go grab some and just try to remember those nights.
What have been some of your most memorable bottle uncorkings?
That would definitely be Sassicaia. My wife and I had a chance to go to Italy a number of times. And so, yeah, that bottle. Another has been when we opened up a bottle of ‘84 for my wife’s birthday this past year. I have a lot of wines that match birth years, whether it’s my kids, it’s draft years, all that stuff. Usually most of the things we try to do are pretty meaningful.
You’re involved with La Fête, a Black-owned wine produced in southern France. What’s meaningful to you about their wine?
I’ve been to St. Tropez [where La Fête is]. I think that’s what made this partnership with Donae [Burston] so dope—not only is it an amazing wine, but it’s also introducing our culture to this [wine industry], right? Like, a lot of times you go places and you want to see someone that looks like you. It’s no fun when you’re going into some of these experiences and you’re the only one in the room who looks like yourself. And so seeing what Donae was doing, I was like, yes, I want to be a part of that.
I hear you. I drank the rosé for the first time with a homie, and it made me realize I don’t usually order rosé. He’s Iranian. I’m Mexican. Both of our parents are immigrants. It’s just not something we’ve ever felt invited to be a part of. But the mission behind La Fête is about bringing those experiences to a diverse community of drinkers to enjoy. And I appreciate that.
Right, right, right. And I think what is really dope—even though we have the Blanc and we have the Rouge—is that [the rosé] is cool, right? Sometimes you might want to do something to be cool. And the rosé is that.
So how exactly did you link up?
I came across Donae around the time of the NBA bubble. I was staying in Orlando and through a mutual friend, Donae sent some [wine] to the bubble. I used to have some of my teammates come over, and we would have the rosé. So I talked to Donae, saw his background and everything and how involved he’s been for years in wine and what he was trying to do. And I said I would like to be a part of it.
There’s a photo of you, LeBron, D Wade, and Carmelo Anthony toasting wine glasses earlier in your careers. Is that something you each got into separately, or as a group?
Everybody sort of individually. But we had already had trips of ours and nights of ours where we would drink wine. I have a wine cellar at home and it’s full of D Wade’s wine, full of Melo’s wine. I got some of Melo’s wine here in my condo in the Bay right now [laughs]. It’s all about that support.
There should be a wine night for players and referees. Maybe throw some owners into the mix. It seems like that could fix things.
[Laughs] I wish it was that easy.
It does seem like wine has taken off in the NBA, though.
I think everybody sort of connects in their own way. C.J. McCollum has his own wine. You know, it’s funny, I went to the [Food & Wine Classic] Black Wine Festival this past year out in Aspen. I saw C.J. there. I saw Melo there. D Wade was there. E-40 was there. So that was a great time. You get a chance to connect with winemakers and other people involved in the business. You get a chance to see, like I said, other people who look like you, who have been in this business for a number of years. 30 years, 40 years, maybe longer than that. There’s always more that you can learn.
Channing Frye has an online show called “Full-Bodied” where he asks other players to choose a bottle of wine that represents their style of play. What would that bottle be for you right now?
What bottle? Hmm… I would say our rosé. It’s the first wine we introduced, but it’s still clean and fresh, you know what I mean? It’s the vintage version, basically, but it’s clean and fresh.
Do you think a rookie CP3 in New Orleans would choose that bottle to represent himself?
Nah, nah. That CP3 was probably like Grey Goose.
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