OKC Thunder leader Chris Paul could be more selfish

The OKC Thunder have surprised the NBA this season, sitting sixth in the West. A large part of this is thanks to the incredible leadership of Chris Paul.

The OKC Thunder made the right moves in what I have dubbed to offseason of renewed hope. When the news of the Paul George trade broke, it was hard to fathom. Then when Russell Westbrook was traded, I like the rest of the NBA thought the worst for the Thunder.

Then, I became excited about the growth and potential of the Thunder, they would be a good team in a few years when they developed. The start of the season showed that this was going to be a competitive unit. They lost several close games, including their first six on the road. Then Chris Paul happened.

That is the only way to describe the impact Paul has had on this organization. Sure, coach Billy Donovan has had an impact on the team but it is Paul’s leadership and mentorship which has had a massive impact on the team.

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Paul is the most clutch player in the NBA this season, helping the OKC Thunder to have the best clutch record in the league. This also means that the Thunder are one of the most exciting teams in the entire NBA to watch night in and night out.

Paul has displayed incredible leadership, his shooting, passing, defense and rebounding have all been tremendous. His game management has been as good as ever which is as good as anyone in the NBA this season.

The only thing that the TI team was able to come up with that Paul needs to improve is he needs to be more selfish sooner.

Paul tends to get selfish late in games where he takes over with that winner’s attitude.  As Ryan Ruocco said on the Denver Nuggets coverage, for the rest of the game the ball is in the hands of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder. When the game is on the line, the ball is in Paul’s hands.

While he is allowing the other two to gain experience the intensity of the in-game decisions, Paul needs to take over earlier at times.

The only reason for this is when the shots are not falling, the Thunder lose the close ones. Chris Paul is being unselfish to a fault, this will benefit the OKC Thunder in the long term as well.