THE OPEN INVITATION quickly turned into an expectation during Chris Paul's only season on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster.
On off nights when the Thunder were home, the team's players were all welcome at Paul's place, where the future Hall of Famer lived alone while his family stayed in Los Angeles that 2019-20 season. His chef would prepare a healthy and hearty dinner -- vegan for Paul and other options for his guests -- and the players would eat and watch that night's NBA action.
Those nights became routine for a few of the Thunder's youngest players, including promising second-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and raw, undrafted rookie Luguentz Dort, the only two players remaining on Oklahoma City's roster from that season.