Chris Paul's Playbook

Business lessons from the legendary point guard, prolific investor, and pal of Bob Iger

- Arianne Cohen

The Phoenix Suns had a day offin mid-March, and Chris Paul wanted to take advantage of it. Specifically, he wanted to organize his sneaker closet, which he hadn’t been able to attend to since moving into a new house. Paul has hundreds of pairs—13 of them Nikes he co-designed—and he was pumped about spending the day with them. “I went pretty much this whole season with my shoes being in boxes,” he says—and now those boxes were lining his hallway. “I’ve actually been so excited taking them out today.”

Paul has been busy with other stuff. Although he missed 15 games with a broken thumb, he’s helped the Suns to a 61-14 record and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs, which start on April 16. The 12-time All-Star, who goes by CP3 (check his jersey), is known on the court for his fierce competitiveness, deadeye midrange jumper, and chess-like approach to running an offense. Combine that with the swashbuckling drives of teammate Devin Booker, the rebounding of Deandre Ayton, and the defense of Mikal Bridges, and Paul has a real shot at winning his first championship.

Regardless of his success in the playoffs, Paul—who’s earned more than $300 million playing in the NBA—has already established a business empire. His production company, Ohh Dip!!!, is expanding from sports documentaries into scripted and reality programming. Some nights it’s hard to watch live sports without seeing him in ads for State Farm. And on How I Got Here With Chris Paul, he’ll interview athletes and business leaders. The show will stream exclusively on Bloomberg Quicktake starting on April 13.