Earl Monroe is the best Knicks point guard to ever have been linked to Winston-Salem, N.C. In 2012, Monroe said he thinks that might change with the arrival of Hornets superstar Chris Paul.
Monroe, who is friendly with the Paul family and played at tiny Winston-Salem State, told The Post yesterday he believes Paul has eyes on the Knicks if he becomes a free agent in 2012, and thinks he would love playing for the orange and blue.
“I’m quite sure he would relish being in the Big Apple,” said Monroe, who coached the New York City team vs. L.A. in yesterday’s inaugural People’s Games at Union Square. “He can handle this pressure. Obviously he’s one of the premier point guards in the league. To add that with what you already have, you got the real nucleus to having something special happen closer than in four years.”
Earl “The Pearl” worked with Paul and Paul’s family in New Orleans doing promotional work for the documentary, “Black Magic” — which explored the roots of the black-college basketball scene. Monroe was a frequent customer of Paul’s grandfather’s grocery store in Winston-Salem.
“I always felt Winston was my home,” Monroe said. “I’ve followed any player who’s come out of Winston, so I’ve kept tabs on him.”
Monroe used Paul’s lone showing at the Garden in February as an example of CP3 responding to the scrutiny not found in the Big Easy. Paul played a dog game vs. the Knicks, which continued a mini-slump he was in. Suddenly, reports suggested Paul might have lost his elite status, with rumors about a bad knee circulating.
“Case in point, he had a terrible game here, I was there that night,” Monroe said. “People started talking about it. The next few games, he put it up again. He knows what the deal is out here. When people started writing he might have lost it, he was like: Let me try to pick this up and let them know I’m still here.”
Pending the new labor agreement, the Knicks may or may not have maximum cap room to snare Paul, who also could become a free agent in 2013 if he doesn’t opt out. A Paul-Carmelo Anthony-Amar’e Stoudemire trio would be considered a threat to Miami’s Dream Team.
Monroe, a Knicks teammate of retiring Lakers coach Phil Jackson’s for six seasons, said he thinks the 65-year-old Zen Master probably won’t come to the Knicks.
But Monroe said he believes the chances would be much greater if Paul came first. The Post reported Jackson would consider returning to the NBA in a couple of years if the right job became available.
“I feel as though he’s done,” Monroe said. “I don’t think there are any teams on verge at this point of being that next super team that has a coaching job available. Even if it happened, it would be three, four years away. I don’t think he’ll go to a team where he has to build all over again.”
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The Pacers announced yesterday that Larry Bird is returning as Pacers president. Knicks president Donnie Walsh, who still has his home in Indianapolis, steadfastly denied he had any interest in returning.
Nevertheless, some speculated that the potential of a Walsh return to Indianapolis has been a reason for the delay in the Knicks announcing his new contract extension.