David West and Emeka Okafor say they weren't offended by Chris Paul's remarks

The players around Paul weren't good enough, so the stories went, not a flattering portrait of his teammates to be sure.

Yet the other two members of the Hornets' big three, forward David West and center Emeka Okafor, weren't offended they said Monday at the team's media day gathering.

"He was honest, " said West, the senior member of the team who has been with the Hornets since 2003. "I'm not going to lie to myself. The worst thing you can do is lie. And I thought last year, we just had the wrong perspective in terms of what we were from the beginning. It wasn't an honest opinion of who we were, the talent that we had. So we basically set ourselves up for failure from the beginning because we weren't honest with who we were. So I didn't take it personally at all.

"Hell, you've got to beat the Lakers. We couldn't get past Denver two years ago. That's what we were shooting for. We can't be in the playoff or championship conversation because that's not what we are. You just have to be honest with yourself. You can't allow yourself to get drawn into this fantasma, whatever this is they go through, when people just expect you to have a magical season. It doesn't work like that."

Okafor, who is entering his seventh NBA season and has never played in a postseason game, said Paul's assessment didn't sting.

"I never really put too much stock into anything, " Okafor said. "I let things take their course. I never take anything personally. I took that situation the same. What was going to happen was going to happen.

"C.P. was going to do what he feels necessary. Whatever he felt he had to do, he did. And no offense was taken."