Chris Paul looks set to close out his NBA career as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, a team he spent six seasons with, but his return is not just sentimental.
Paul, 40, will try once again to bring the Clippers their first title. The star guard has been a journeyman, playing for the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and San Antonio Spurs, where he spent last season.
Paul’s wife, Jada, and children, Chris Jr. and Camryn, stayed in Los Angeles after the Clippers traded him to the Rockets in 2017. Now, Paul can be near family instead of a flight away in the southwest or Northern California.
“I love to hoop, I love to play this game, but I love my family more than any of it,” Paul said.
“I’m just so excited about the moves that the team has made this offseason,” Paul said. “Brad coming to the team, Brook Lopez, all the young guys. I talked to James, I talked to Kawhi, and I’m even more excited about what I think we have a chance to do.”
“You all who have seen me play for a while, I’m going to try to do better and try to smile a little bit more this year,” Paul said. “I’m grateful. I’m going to come out every single night, whatever that looks like, and try to make sure I show up for the team.”
In what was known as the “Lob City” era, Paul often threw alley-oop passes for former Clippers star forward Blake Griffin. Los Angeles became a force in the Western Conference despite a history of losing seasons, but they couldn’t get past the conference semifinals.
The Clippers reached the Western Conference finals once in 2020–2021 after Paul’s time, ironically against Paul and the Suns. Paul has never won a title in his many stops and has made it to the NBA Finals only once.
In 20 seasons, Paul has averaged 17 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and two steals per game. He has 12 All-Star appearances and 11 All-NBA team appearances along the way.
However, Paul hasn’t been the same star player in the past two seasons—he has averaged fewer than 10 points and eight assists per game. In addition, he’s playing less than 30 minutes per game for the first time in his career. He doesn’t expect to be the main star in his second go-around with the Clippers.
“I’ve always believed in, keep stacking days, right? And that you just have to show up every single day, every single day,” Paul said.
“So that’s what I plan on bringing to this team, is that no matter, you never get too high, never get too low, my role on this team is obviously different than it’s been the past 20 years being in the NBA.
“But showing up every day, if I can show some of the guys what it looks like every day to clock in and clock out, I’m excited for it.”
While Paul is in his 40s, retirement isn’t on the table yet. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is another notable NBA player in his 40s.
“Please don’t talk about that,” Paul said jokingly regarding retirement. “I’m just in it. I’m enjoying it. I’m still showing up every day.”
