Chris Paul remembers his first Father’s Day as a dad like it was yesterday. He was given a card by his wife, Jada, that featured his son’s footprints on it and several pages of admiration from his little tyke.
“The card was from my son,” says Paul. “On the cover of the book was [Chris II’s] footprints. It was a few pages and it looked like it was from my son. It said, ‘Dad, I listen to you all day every day and I can’t wait to grow up and be like you.’ It gave me goose bumps because as a male you always want a son and you want them to be just like you.”
Although he wants his son to be like him, Chris doesn’t necessarily want Chris II to follow in his footsteps in playing basketball. “I’d actually like him to play golf or something like that with some longevity! But I just want him to be happy,” explains the star. “Things that are going to happen inevitably I don’t want to happen. I much rather have him not get his heart broken and stuff like that but I know it’s going to happen. The crazy thing is he loves basketball. Sometimes I think he almost loves it more than me.”
Recognizing his pure love for basketball, Jada and Chris take their son to as many games as possible. “In the NBA a lot of times people don’t bring their kids to the games because they have school. I told my wife if I have to be selfish about one thing and that can’t change is I need my son at the games. First of all, he loves it and would be devastated…when he acts up at home the way we scare him is saying, ‘Chris, we’re not going to let you go to the game.’ It breaks him down. For me, after the game, I need to see him. It isn’t I want to see him, I need to see him. Ever since he was small, we may win or we may lose, but after the game to see him run to me and not care whether we won or lost…now he’s a little older so he knows what’s going on. It’s a little different now. He’ll be like, ‘Daddy, why did you lose tonight?’ But there’s nothing like after a game seeing him,” says Paul.
Chris II is Chris Sr. and Jada’s oldest child together. The couple also have a daughter named Camryn Alexis.
