- Victor Oladipo’s 1-emoji summary of his dominant defensive performance vs. the Celtics
- Report: Celtics provide injury updates on Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Robert Williams ahead of Game 4 vs. Heat
- Erik Spoelstra implies Miami Heat had to restrain Jimmy Butler from playing in 2nd half of Game 3
- Former NBA star explains how Miami Heat’s strict body fat requirement prevented him from playing with LeBron James
- Erik Spoelstra reveals that Kyle Lowry intends to play in Game 3 vs. the Celtics
- Amar’e Stoudemire crushes Tyler Herro for not being same bubble player: ‘Where is the focus on basketball?’
- Report: Miami Heat legend Tim Hardaway joined New York Knicks in scouting role this season
- Report: Boston Celtics upgrade Al Horford’s status for Game 2 of Eastern Conference Finals
- Report: Boston Celtics to be without key role player in Game 2 vs. Miami Heat
- Max Strus strongly shuts down idea that he wants revenge against Celtics in ECF
Report: Chris Paul spied on KZ Okpala in game vs. Miami Heat, knew Caron Butler taught him impressive move
- Updated: June 28, 2021

Miami Heat youngster KZ Okpala apparently caught the eye of NBA legend Chris Paul at one point this season.
“[Caron] Butler spent some of this season working with second-year Heat player KZ Okpala, who hadn’t seen much time on the floor,” Paolo Uggetti of The Ringer wrote. “In early March, he got a text from Paul that included a video of Okpala during a game against the Orlando Magic. Butler was thrown off. Why was Paul watching a random Heat-Magic game in the middle of the season? He watched the clip—one where Okpala pulled off a dribble move along the baseline—and saw that Paul guessed Butler had taught Okpala the move because it was something Butler did often when he and Paul played together. Butler was blown away.”
That’s an incredible observation from Paul. No small detail goes over the future Hall of Famer’s head.
“He is so aware of everything happening around him,” Butler said. “He is the type of individual that you could be on the opposite team, and he could tell you when you should cut. This is your own play and he’s telling you where to go.”
While Okpala hasn’t been able to make much of an impact in the early stages of his career, it seems he has some outstanding veteran leadership to help him take his game to the next level.
In the 2020-21 season, the second-year player averaged 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
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