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The latest project from Connor Schell’s Words + Pictures is a new content series not only starring future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul but also featuring Genius Sports’ data and technology. Paul launched his production company Ohh Dip!!! Entertainment with backing from Words + Pictures a year ago, and this new joint venture adds Genius to provide official NBA data and its visualization tech.
The initial plan is a digitally native program of 30-to-45 minutes launching later this year that’ll take viewers inside the strategy of basketball. Paul will host using the same Genius tech he used extensively in his playing career. Schell worked on the late Kobe Bryant’s “Details” while at ESPN, and that has been an inspiration for what is being planned here, said Nickole Tara, Words + Pictures’ COO and chief business officer.
Lachard Binkley: This past weekend former Houston Rocket Montrezl Harrell took part in the RGV tryouts. Harrell started his career with the Vipers in the 2015-16 playing two seasons with the Rockets. Of course Harrell was part of the blockbuster trade that brought Chris Paul to the Rockets. Harrell played on several team’s including overseas and also played in the BIG3.
Chris Paul: Excited to announce a new chapter with Genius Sports, Ohh Dip!!! Productions and Words + Pictures. I’ve always believed the people closest to the game have a unique perspective on the details, decisions, and moments that shape it, and now we have an opportunity to bring that perspective directly to fans in new ways. By combining creator-led storytelling with Genius Sports’ data (which I have been using for over a decade!), AI, and technology, we’re building original programming that can help fans see, understand, and experience sports differently. Grateful to Mark Locke, Connor Schell, and everyone involved for believing in the vision.
Bradley Beal on Chris Paul: He’s a legend! The HISTORY and BRAND can’t be touched, nor erased!!!
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Patrick Beverley: "Montrezl Harrell gets into a verbal argument with Paul George. That dynamic doesn't look good. They let Montrezl Harrell walk. Lou Kennard comes in, he signs a four-year $60 million deal. They got Lou Williams, the most six-man in NBA history, they got him on an $8 million deal. Lou Williams pissed. I come in, I ask for an extension, they try to lowball me. So they're doing all of this to keep superstars happy. And then you get rid of Paul George, and you get James Harden, and you get Russell Westbrook. You get rid of them, and you cut Chris Paul. Only person that you keep is Kawhi Leonard. Phenomenal basketball player. Don't get it twisted. Kawhi Leonard, when healthy, is a phenomenal basketball player. It's not even close actually. He has Michael Jordan numbers when he's healthy."
Patrick Beverley: "I signed a three-year $40 million contract with the Clippers. I turned down a three-year $50 million with Sacramento just to stay with the Clippers. For me to be there, all the great guards they've had, I was part of that starting five that helped the Clippers go to the first time ever Western Conference Finals. They've had great guards. They've had James Harden, they had Russell Westbrook, they have Chris Paul, they've had Rajon Rondo. They had a plethora of point guards that just can never help them get over the hump, but I was part of that starting five that helped them finally, first time ever, and they haven't been back since, get to the Western Conference Finals."
Chris Paul: "My grandfather, my senior year in high school, I signed my letter of intent to go to Wake Forest on a full scholarship. My grandfather was there with me, with my whole family. He closed down the shop. He never usually closed down the shop, but he closed that down for my ceremony. That night, me and him went to go see Wake Forest play. The very next day, November 15th, I'm at our high school football game and I get a call from my brother that he's coming back in town. And he said my granddad was sick. And so I run out to my car and I see one of my cousins and he told me that my granddad had been killed. Five teenagers had tied him up and beat him to death. And so everyone in my hometown knew my granddad. So at that stage of my life, I was Mr. Jones' grandson. Everybody knew us as Mr. Jones' grandson."
“What’s interesting about that whole situation is, it’s probably one of the most disrespectful things that I’ve endured,” Paul said on the “Build or Break” podcast. “I’ve been through a lot of wild stuff in my career, and having older kids and a wife who’s very tapped in, and they know the daily goings on as far as that team and that organization. Obviously I was upset, but my family, my people, everybody…” “I think just because of the investment we made in the team for as long as we have, and to see the way stuff was handled. What it lets you know is that no matter what you do or what you’ve done, nobody cares.”
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Another front office member for another team speculated going into coaching could be a better option for Chris Paul, citing his playing career accolades. “Such a student of the game, he’s used to leading on [the] floor and in a locker room,” they told the Post. “Could just see it translating well, in my opinion.” They added: “But I could see either front office or coaching in his future.”
But if Chris Paul is able to join the Lakers in any capacity, it could provide him with the opportunity to contribute to a franchise he could’ve been with – albeit in a significantly different way. Only Paul can answer whether that’s a step he wants to take after retiring from a 21-year playing career this past February. But people around the league see the potential fit for Paul in a front office role. A front office member on an Eastern Conference team told the Post they could see Paul, at least initially, best fitting in as a consultant as someone who people around the organization can pick the brain of the 12-time All-Star. “Just comes down to commitment and how much he listens,” the front office member told the Post of Paul’s fit as an executive. “Understanding [the] game at such a higher level goes such a long way.”
D'Antoni on the James Harden and Chris Paul Rockets: "We thought we were the best team in the league by far that year for sure. And we had Golden State on the ropes, with their Big 3 -- Big 4, actually, they'll probably have four Hall-of-Fame guys going in. They were good, and Steve Kerr does a great job. We had 'em, you know? We had 'em, and just, Chris [Paul] got hurt, and that's just the way it goes. And then we missed 27 3s in a row, which didn't help. Analytically, I know that's not good! I knew it wasn't when we were doing it, but just a great team."
