Chris Paul Shooting Form – The New Mid-Range Pull-Up King?

OK, so we know that Chris Paul is a great all-around point-guard… he’s been an All-Star nine times in his first eleven years and his accolades speak for themselves.

This is because Paul is one of the most gifted players in the NBA. He’s an exceptional passer, a quality leader, and an unselfish floor generator.

At the age of 33, we can definitely say that Paul is in his prime. He’s coming up as one of the biggest names in the league and, I believe, one day he could be a 50-40-90 shooter.

Not a believer?

In 2014-15 Paul hit 48.5% of his field goal attempts (FGM), 39.8% of his 3s, and 90% from the free-throw line.

So as you can see Paul is close, very close.

The King of Mid-Range

Chris Paul may have the best mid-range pull-up in the NBA. He takes a high percentage of his shots from between 10-feet to the 3pt line.

Let’s compare CP3 to two other elite sharpshooter point-guards, Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry.

% of Shots Made From 10-feet to the 3pt Line:

• Chris Paul – 50%
• Stephen Curry – 36%
• Kyrie Irving – 28%

You can clearly see that Paul easily shoots more pull-ups than both Steph and Kyrie.

Now let’s look at Paul’s shooting percentage compared to Steph from 16-feet to the 3pt line.

% of Shots Made from 16-feet to the 3pt Line:

• Chris Paul – 48.7%
• Stephen Curry – 39.4%

That’s a big difference!

Chris Paul Shooting Mechanics

Let’s break down Paul’s shooting mechanics and his favorite moves.

Paul is a turn shooter, meaning that he turns his legs when he shoots.

He’s also a dipper when shooting off the pass, meaning that he lowers the ball a bit when catching it before pulling it up.

In addition, he uses the sweep & sway technique (especially when shooting 3s) – his feet move forward and his shoulders sway back. This allows him to get better range and better arc on his shot.

And one more thing Chris does is to hop – he is so quick off the dribble because he dominates with the hop. He hops… and hops… and he’s hard to stop.

I think this is due to his height (5’11”). The smaller the player is, the more he probably needs to hop. And at 5’11”, Paul is a really small guy for the NBA.

But what he lacks in height, he makes up for with his shot. He has made the mid-range pull-up fade-away an impossible shot to block.

And to top it off, he also has a solid floater which enables him to finish over big defenders after he’s done slicing through the defense.

Hall of Fame Bound

If CP3 can keep up with these great stats, he will easily become a Hall of Famer.

However, will CP3 be like Steve Nash, John Stockton and Reggie Miller – quality shooters who never won a championship?

Only time will tell.

Either way, I’m a huge CP3 fan, and in my opinion, he’s one of the best point-guards the game has ever saw. He can pass, he can dribble, his decision-making is superb, and he has truly become a master at the art of shooting.

Some would argue that he’s even better than Curry, but that’s a topic for another discussion.

One way or another, I seriously hope that by the time CP3 retires, he will have earned himself a ring because he truly deserves it.

Jesse Parker

Born and raised in sunny Florida, Jesse Parker grew up spending most of his days outdoors playing hoops and honing his basketball skills. He has a huge love for the game and is always striving to get better at it. His latest obsession is the subject of vertical jumping and dunking.