Preseason: Lakers @ Suns Friday game thread 12-18-20

[Hoop Head]

Other than Paul, we don't have a player that can constantly complain to the officials without pissing off the stripes. Actually, Paul probably can't do it without pissing them off either but he has a reputation with the referees and is a powerful voice in the league so he doesn't pay the same price that Booker does for the same reactions.

Paul can definitely work the refs. His teams have a history of being at the top of the league in FT attempts. Last year the Thunder were 5th in FT attempts per game and before that in Houston and LA they were always in the top 5 in FT attempts. The last time a Chris Paul team was out of the top 5 in FTA was in 2012-13 when the Clippers were 9th in the league in FTA.

Let's hope Paul is able to maintain that here in Phoenix and also helps teach Booker how to better communicate with the refs because I think Booker talks to them a lot but he rubs some officials the wrong way and it works against him defensively, as you alluded to in another post.