MVPaul: Chris Paul Named All-Star MVP
2/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2013
By Maggie Cancelosi, WakeForestSports.com (@WFUSports)
HOUSTON - Los Angeles Clippers point guard and former Demon Deacon Chris Paul was voted MVP of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday night after leading the West to a 143-138 win over the East. The six-time NBA All-Star earned eight of 12 MVP votes.
En route to earning the honor, Paul totaled 20 points, 15 assists and four steals. The point guard demonstrated his iconic lob in Houston's Toyota Center to Clippers' teammate Blake Griffin, as well as former Olympic teammate and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.
"Pretty special," Paul told the LA Times. "It's something I've never done. And it's something that coming into the game I wasn't trying to achieve or thinking that it might even be possible."
Paul received praise from some of the game's brightest stars.
"He deserved it," Durant said after the game. "He had great passes, making steals, made big buckets. He played a hell of a game, and congratulations to him. It was a pleasure playing with him."
"He was unbelievable," said Miami Heat star LeBron James. "He's one of the best players we have in this league, the number one point guard we have in this league, and it doesn't surprise me what he did on the floor tonight."
Paul is the first Deacon since Tim Duncan in 2000 to win the All-Star MVP. Only Wake Forest and LSU have multiple NBA All-Star MVPs. Bob Pettit (1956, 1958, 1959, 1962) and Shaquille O'Neill (2000, 2004, 2009) have won the award for LSU.
"TEAM WEST !!! Big win 2night and had too much fun at #AllStarSaturdayNight...Thank You to all of the West participants, you guys made it happen," @CP3 tweeted after the game.
Paul will return to Wake Forest for the retirement of his No. 3 jersey on March 2 for the Deacons' game against Maryland.