Chris Paul recently revealed on “Good Morning America” that he found out he was being traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Washington Wizards on his flight to do the ‘GMA’ interview.
Chris was on the show to promote his new book Sixty-One, about his grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, who had the first black-owned car service station in North Carolina.
Nathaniel Jones was also known as “Papa Chilly.”
Chris described his grandfather as his best friend.
Unfortunately, Chris’ grandfather was killed during a robbery attack in 2002.
Five juveniles were charged with the murder of Chris’ grandfather.
According to police, Mr. Jones was beaten and left to die outside his home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They also found that his wallet was missing.
A day after his grandfather’s funeral, Chris Paul scored 61 points in a high school game in honor of his grandfather, a point for every year his grandfather lived on this earth. Chris was 17 at the time.
He appeared on “GMA” in 2002, in his first national interview, and talked about his grandfather passing at 61 and him scoring 61pts., in a high school game soon after.
Fast-forward to the present day, after becoming a 12x NBA All-Star, and a 2x Olympic Medalist, Chris reappeared on “GMA” to talk about his new book about his grandfather and his shock of finding out he was being traded to the Washington Wizards on his flight to the interview.
Co-host of “GMA” Michael Strahan expressed his surprise to Chris about seeing the trade news on the sticker tape outside the building, and he asked Chris his first thoughts on the NBA blockbuster trade between him and Bradley Beal.
Chris responded:
I was surprised too!
I found out on the plane yesterday flying here for this.
You know, in this league anything can happen so you just figure out what’s next.
Ironically, the trade news came out on Father’s Day (June 18) while Chris Paul was on a plane to interview about a book he wrote about his grandfather on “GMA,” the same show he interviewed on in 2002 about his grandfather’s passing.
Watch the Chris Paul interview on “GMA” below:
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Source: ABC News
