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Chris Paul and the Clippers Begin New Era Mindful of Hard Lessons Ahead

Kevin Ding@@KevinDingX.com LogoNBA Senior WriterSeptember 30, 2014

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — As a little man who has become great in a big man's game, Chris Paul has consistently challenged those bigger and stronger than him.

Those moments often feature Paul getting knocked down but scrambling to stand up for himself and fight back before he can even process if he might be hurt or failing.

For all his skill and fashion and commercials and baby face, his real style is to scrap.

And long after his five-turnover debacle in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers' elimination in Game 6 back home against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Paul still wants a piece.

"It would be nice if we could just start the playoffs tomorrow," he said Monday at the Clippers' media day event. "But we've got a lot of work to do before that."

It was a telling comment by Paul, whose inability to win more than a single playoff series in a season has become a legit stigma.

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 15: Chris Paul #3 of the Los Angeles Clippers handles the ball against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Six of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on May 15, 2014 in Los Angeles, Californ
Noah Graham/Getty Images

Paul has had plenty of bright spots in his postseason career, but the truth is that playoff opponents can game-plan against him and minimize him because of his size. There's the additional concern that his body is vulnerable to injury—he missed 20 games last season, and folks have long wondered about the cartilage removed from his left knee in 2011—which means he may not be as capable as other top players of being at peak power in the spring.

To his credit, Paul understands his playoff woes are ripe for criticism. "It's the truth," Paul said. "It doesn't matter if it's fair or not."

But if allowed to fast-forward to the 2015 playoffs, it's not hard to see the Clippers having the best time of this franchise's life.

The players are downright proud to bring up the name of energetic new owner Steve Ballmer. The days of corporate sponsors running in fear of Donald Sterling are long gone, with Kia's logo situated next to the Clippers' on the media-day backdrop and Red Bull's brand name all over the microphones. So many media members showed up for the media-day introductory event that they overflowed the parking area…and overflowed the overflow parking area too.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

The Clippers carried real team chemistry into the locker room from the summer, when they were group-texting like a clique of schoolgirls. Jamal Crawford, who brought the team together for his offseason wedding weekend in Seattle, was moved to think that having a core group together for so many years compares these Clippers to the old-time Celtics and Lakers.

Even though there's no Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, Matt Barnes called the Clippers "arguably the most talented team from top to bottom in the league [with the] best coach in the league." The offensive weaponry only increased with Spencer Hawes' free-agent signing, and Doc Rivers' defense is ready to advance from running guys off the three-point line to guarding them diligently after that.

Blake Griffin is the only player in the league who can challenge LeBron James and Kevin Durant for all-around, ultimate dominance, and Griffin grew his game again over the summer with more diligent shooting work and scrutinizing video to learn what small details could be improved to unleash even more power.

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 9: Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers goes to the basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on May 9, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca
Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

Put it all together, and it's clear that even though Paul didn't have enough help before to win a second, third or fourth playoff series, he can hope he does now.

And his limited playoff success tells us that Paul, 29, needs significant help to win. He just hasn't been able to find it yet.

"To be quite frank, we're all getting older in terms of the core group of guys" said J.J. Redick, 30. "You never know how many opportunities you're going to get to be on a team that has a legitimate chance to win a championship."

Rivers is blunt about his belief that the Clippers do not necessarily have a clear edge on anyone despite winning more regular-season games last season than every team except San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

"About 10 other teams in the West" are thinking things can break right for them to reach the 2015 NBA Finals too, according to Rivers.

Emerging from that pack will require a team-wide understanding that it cannot race ahead the way Paul dreams he could after a long offseason in which he stewed in lament and "tried to work at" his mental toughness.

Paul needs to know by now that championships, or even second-round successes, are not achieved by rushing teams toward maturity.

"Last year as a team, we sort of learned what the process was," Paul said of the Clippers' first season under Rivers. "This year as a team, we're sort of going to have to fall in love with the process."

Kevin Ding is an NBA senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @KevinDing.