Chris Paul really isn’t thinking about Charlotte, y’all

If you want to know why some NBA players are at best cranky and at worst completely distrusting of media members, the quick interview Chris Paul gave Tuesday to the Associated Press is a good place to start.

Mike Cranston, the man who interviewed Paul as he was set to publicize Michael Jordan's latest attempt to move more shoe units (under the guise of a high school basketball tournament), is generally a very good reporter and writer. The problem is that, with Paul offering little beyond pablum to Cranston before attempting to talk up the company that both Jordan and Paul endorses, one quick answer to an odd question became the most important part of Cranston's column, and briefly set the NBA on its ear on Tuesday.

From the AP:

"It would definitely be something to think about," the New Orleans guard said Tuesday when asked about the potential to sign with the Jordan-owned Charlotte Bobcats in 2012. "But right now it's all about trying to win a championship here with the Hornets."

Paul is from North Carolina, as is Michael Jordan, and as is the team that Jordan owns -- the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats will have some cap space in the summer of 2012 -- though nobody knows how much space they'll have, the team is on the books for $35 million that year -- and Paul will be a free agent. It's still an odd question.

Why? Because the Bobcats aren't that great, they don't figure to be all that great in the upcoming years, and unless someone wants to take Stephen Jackson's eight-figure contract off Jordan's hands, the team won't have much by way of running mates for Paul to play with.

Also, it's a year from now.

But Paul didn't dismiss the question, because he didn't feel like being a jerk, before moving on in an instant to talk up his hopes for the postseason-qualified Hornets. And with the rumors swirling, CP3 took to his Twitter account to calm the silly, silly fires:

Cranston was well within his rights to ask that question, and Paul gave an honest answer without tipping any hands or laying down any hints. The guy, honestly, doesn't know what he's going to be doing 15 months from now amidst an NBA landscape that is impossible to predict, both in competitive and financial terms. Where we went wrong is taking Paul's honesty for anything more than what made it to Cranston's final draft. Nothing to see here, folks.

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