WS Chronicle

There isn’t much NBA Superstar Chris Paul hasn’t accomplished on the basketball court, but now the 12-time All Star and future hall of famer has taken on a new challenge: writing. 

In his first book, “Sixty-One: Life Lessons from Papa, On and Off the Court,” which is co-authored by Michael Wilbon, longtime sportswriter and ESPN commentator, Paul talks about that day and how his grandfather helped shape him into the man he is today.

Last week Paul sat down with Talitha Vickers, former anchorwoman at WXII 12 News and a marketing and business development manager at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP of Winston-Salem, to discuss the process of writing the book and more, at Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University.

The day after Paul signed his national letter of intent to attend Wake Forest University, his grandfather, “Papa Chilli” Jones, was murdered. Jones was the first Black man to own a Chevron gas station in the state. Jones’ gas station was located at the corner of New Walkertown Road and Carver School Road. 

Just five days later Paul, who was a senior at West Forsyth at the time, made a tribute to his grandfather that made national headlines. Paul scored 61 points in a game, one point for every year his grandfather lived.

When discussing his relationship with his grandfather, Paul said he can recall being as young as seven years old working at the gas station, running up to cars with a red rag hanging out his back pocket, trying to be just like his grandfather, Papa Chilli. 

Paul said during those long hot summers working at the gas station, he learned skills  that carried over to the classroom, like math, but he learned even more skills that carried over to everyday life, like how to deal with people and the importance of hard work. Although he didn’t think about it much in those days, Paul said as he got older the fact that his grandfather was able to be his own boss really meant a lot to him. 

“That’s one of the reasons I decided to write the book because when I was younger all of this stuff was just taking place and I was paying attention to it, but not necessarily knowing what’s going on,” Paul said. “You know my grandad was his own boss and he used to say, ‘I don’t want to have to go to work and somebody tell me what to do.’ So it was amazing to see how he had to lead.” 

In honor of Jones, the Chris Paul Family Foundation launched Club 61, which aims to enhance and support the growth and development of our future leaders. Every year the foundation brings five teenagers from Winston-Salem and every NBA city Paul has played in, to Los Angeles for three days where they learn about financial literacy, activism, social justice, and health and wellness. 

“It’s just our way of continuing to let his legacy live on and trying to impact the next generation,” Paul said. 

While the core of the book focuses on Paul’s relationship with his grandfather, Paul talks about his entire family in the book. Paul said he grew up in a close-knit family that had a lot of love and he wanted to show that in the book. “I was raised with a lot of love,” Paul said when discussing his family. Paul talked about when he was growing up how his entire family, including grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, would leave church on Sunday afternoons and head straight to Central YMCA to watch him and his older brother’s basketball games. 

“When church got out our whole family went from the church to our game. That was our normal,” Paul continued. “Still now when I play in Charlotte, I’ve been in the Western Conference my whole career, they’re 500 deep every time. And that’s something I think I’ve never taken for granted because I have always had that support from my family.”

The book also talks about Paul’s great-grandfather six-times removed, Peter Oliver. Oliver, who was enslaved in Old Salem, learned pottery and purchased his own freedom in 1800. Oliver is still remembered today by historical experts. In honor of Peter Oliver, Paul’s mother, Robin Paul, and other family members are working on having a park built near Salem Parkway. 

“This was something that I didn’t know. Throughout the process of writing this book, we had a lot of different conversations and I remember being in the office and my mom telling me all this different stuff right here and I can name a number of stories like that in the process of writing the book,” Paul continued. “This book was very therapeutic and gave me a different type of education about my family.”