One of the great debates in the NBA for the past several seasons is Tony Parker vs Chris Paul. Who is the league's best point guard?
People would argue for Paul, who has the overall better statistics, but Parker has the rings. Per an excerpt from a book written by Reggie Love, who is Barack Obama’s former aide and a member of Duke’s 2001 national-championship team, the President would take Parker.
I’ll never forget the night I got an email from the future president of the United States consisting only of Tony Parker’s stat line.
I typed an email back to Barack Obama: “Those are good numbers. But it was against a weak team.” Then I added Chris Paul’s stats.
It began with that back-and-forth during the 2007 NBA playoffs. Who was going to be right? The debate went on for years. After Paul, a Los Angeles Clippers guard, won the All-Star Game MVP in 2013, Obama reluctantly conceded, though Parker’s collection of four championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs may make the president’s case for him a little better than mine for Paul.
For me, rings shouldn't be the factor into why a player is better than another. Paul has proven time after time he is the league's point guard (though Stephen Curry is coming for that crown).
Give me Paul over Parker any day. I mean, seriously. Put CP3 on the San Antonio Spurs and Parker on the Los Angeles Clippers, and we got a whole different story.
