Chris Paul will be in the starting lineup for the Western Conference tonight in the NBA All-Star game in Phoenix.

It's the latest milestone in the long list of "firsts" for Winston-Salem's favorite son and most renowned point guard.

There was that first big contract when he was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the fourth pick of the 2005 NBA Draft. There was the first big endorsement deal with Nike. There was the first major award, Rookie of the Year in 2005-06. There was the first signature shoe, the CP3. There was the first ESPN SportsCenter commercial, the first Got Milk? moustache.

There was his first trip to the All-Star game as a reserve last season. There was his first trip to the playoffs, and his first advancement to the conference semifinals. There was his first selection to the U.S. Olympics team, and his first Olympics gold medal last summer in Beijing.

But Paul's appearance in the starting lineup tonight is more than just another milestone.

It's another reminder of how everything has worked out perfectly since this journey started.

From the time he left West Forsyth and went to Wake Forest, then left Wake Forest after his sophomore season, right through his first three and a half seasons with the Hornets, history shows that he has either made the right decision or has otherwise been blessed by circumstances beyond his control.

The first right move was his decision to go to Wake Forest. It was a natural, staying at home, but it was also the perfect way for Paul to fully develop his talents. He had freedom in Skip Prosser's offense that he might not have had elsewhere, especially places that make freshmen defer. Paul no doubt was going to succeed wherever he went, but going to Wake Forest speeded up the process.

Going to Wake Forest set off a sequence that eventually united Paul with his management group, Octagon. His agent, Lance Young, is a Wake Forest graduate and has had other former Deacon athletes as clients. Octagon has managed Paul's career brilliantly, both in terms of marketing and organizing his charitable efforts that include Chris Paul's Winston-Salem Weekend. Again, maybe any NBA agent could have negotiated good deals for Paul and marketed the wholesome image, but nobody could have done it better than Octagon has.

Then leaving Wake Forest after his sophomore year most definitely was the right move, despite the criticism he took. One more year of college basketball was not going to make him a better player the way that playing 82 NBA games did; and there would have been no significant intangible benefits from staying, either. Sure, Paul would love to have experienced going to the Final Four and winning a national championship, but there weren't enough complementary players for Wake Forest to come close to winning a national championship, even with Paul in '05-06.
Sometimes, things go right

Things that were out of Paul's control starting falling into place and working out perfectly at that point.

There was a bit of initial disappointment and ego deflation when Paul dropped below Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams and Deron Williams in the 2005 Draft and wound up going to the Hornets. But New Orleans has turned out to be the perfect place for Paul. Coach Byron Scott wisely built the offense around Paul from the start, and management has made the right personnel moves -- particularly in free agency -- to surround Paul with teammates who fit the system perfectly. That probably would have happened in Utah, too, with Jerry Sloan. But would it have happened in Milwaukee or Atlanta? Probably not.

Paul was blessed with an even bigger bit of good fortune in the 2005 Draft. The Charlotte Bobcats were in line to get the fourth pick all the way up to the final game of the season. But they beat Detroit in their final game to finish 18-64 and move up to a tie with New Orleans for the fourth-worst record in the NBA. The Hornets later won a coin flip to get the No. 4 pick, with the Bobcats falling to No. 5.

It was the most devastating victory in Bobcats franchise history, a meaningless win that cost them Paul and left them to take Raymond Felton at No. 5.

Paul, to put it bluntly, is lucky not to be with the Bobcats. He would be playing for his third coach in four years in Charlotte. His progress no doubt would have been slowed playing one season for Sam Vincent. There is no reason to think that the Bobcats would have surrounded Paul with the right players, given their draft history -- Adam Morrison with the third pick the next year -- and their one big venture into free agency -- the already-departed Jason Richardson. Maybe he would have single-handedly made the Bobcats a playoff team, but they still wouldn't be as good as the Hornets are and will continue to be.

There are some close to Paul who are convinced it was good for him to get out of the Carolinas and not be weighed down with the negatives that go with playing for the "hometown" team. In New Orleans, he was far enough away from home and yet, not too far away.

Paul landed where he was supposed to be as a leader in the community. Paul would have no doubt had his charities in Milwaukee, Atlanta, Salt Lake City or Charlotte, but they're far more important in post-Katrina New Orleans. The city needed financial support, and it also needed somebody to cheer, somebody to lift its collective spirits. Paul has done that in a way that is inspiring. Paul left his mark on Oklahoma City, too, when the Hornets were forced to move there. The excitement he created there is one reason why the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City.

So it has been one good step after another on the road to tonight's All-Star game.

He gets the credit, and the basketball gods do, too.