The NBA’s premier point guard demonstrates why a down vest is that one piece of winterwear no man on the go should ever go without.

It was a Cinderella story to rival even the Celtics’ bottom-to-top run: After two years of slumming it in Oklahoma City, the New Orleans Hornets return to their home arena, where a 23-year-old point guard ignites the court and saves the franchise from permanent relocation. And while Chris Paul may not have carried his team as far as Allen, Pierce, Garnett, and company, 2008 was the year he officially stole the title of most dazzling point guard in the league from Steve Nash. And there’s that Olympic gold, too. Here, Paul looks back.

Interview by Beth Altschull
Photographs by Ben Watts

www.gq.com/style/wear-it-now/200811/chris-paul-hornets-nba-vests