What was expected to occur at the end of the 2025-26 NBA season happened a few months sooner, as on Friday, Chris Paul announced his retirement. The 40-year-old said, “This is it! After over 21 years I’m stepping away from basketball” in a social media post, wrapping up a career that will undoubtedly have him enshrined in the pro basketball Hall of Fame.
While Paul will forever be on the short list of greatest players to never win an NBA championship, one should, instead, focus on what he achieved. “The Point God” was a statistical marvel throughout his 21-year career.
23,058 Points
For someone never thought of as a scorer, Paul sure had a knack for putting the ball in the hoop. He was still averaging double figures as late as a 37-year-old in 2022-23, which gave him 18 straight years of doing so. Paul’s career point total makes him the fourth-highest scoring point guard in NBA history, trailing only Russell Westbrook, Oscar Robertson, and Steph Curry.However, none of those three can combine the aspects of both scoring and dishing quite like Paul, who in 2021 became the first player in NBA history to record 20,000 points and 10,000 assists.
12,552 Assists
Speaking of dimes, only John Stockton recorded more assists than CP3. Five different seasons Paul led the NBA in assists per game, including as a 22-year-old and as a 36-year-old. While a point guard’s job is to set up his teammates, just as important is taking care of the ball and not committing turnovers. Paul’s efficiency set him apart from all other prolific point guards.Paul’s 9.2 assists per game are the sixth-most all-time, and he averaged just 2.3 turnovers per game over his career. Among the top 15 players in assists per game in NBA history, none of the other 14 averaged fewer than 2.8 turnovers per game.
2,728 Steals
We’ve discussed what Paul brought offensively with both his scoring and passing, but arguably his best asset was his knack for picking the pocket of opponents. He trails only Stockton in career steals but trails no one in annually leading the league in steals. Six times Paul led the NBA in steals per game, while no other player in league history has done so more than three times.Paul’s thievery was best on display from April 2007 to December 2008 while with the New Orleans Hornets. Paul recorded a steal in 108 straight games during this span, breaking a 21-year-record held by Alvin Robertson.
All-Everything
A 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection, and nine-time All-Defensive member, Paul did it all. In an era in which players became more specialized with strengths only at one end of the court, Paul stood apart from many of his peers. No point guard notched more All-Defensive selections than Paul, while only Bob Cousy (12) and Jerry West (12) had more All-NBA nods than CP3 at the position.However, when you combine the accolades that Paul received, he’s in the elitest of classes. Here’s a list of every player in NBA history that had at least four All-NBA First Team selections and seven All-Defensive First Team selections: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Chris Paul. Not a bad starting five.
$400 Million Man
While every employee loves to be honored, nothing tells him his worth quite like his paycheck. In addition to being one of the greatest players in NBA history, Paul leaves as one of the wealthiest. He walks away having made more than $404 million in his career, making him one of six players to eclipse $400 million.The Ultimate Winner
Does a team get better with your presence? Does a team decline in your absence? The answer to both of those questions, in regard to Paul, is a resounding “Yes!”- The New Orleans Hornets had the NBA’s second-worst record (18-64) in 2004-05, then drafted Paul fourth overall. As a rookie, he helped the team add 20 wins to its total (38-44) en route to winning Rookie of the Year. In Paul’s last season in New Orleans, the team went 46-36, and when he left in 2011, the Hornets dropped to 21-45 without him, posting the West’s worst record.
- Then came the Los Angeles Clippers, who prior to Paul’s debut season with the team in 2011-12, had finished above .500 just once over their previous 19 seasons. In his first year in Los Angeles, Paul led the team to a 40-26 record in a lockout-shortened year, and the Clippers’ .606 winning percentage was the highest in franchise history. In the point guard’s final year with the team in 2016-17, Los Angeles won 51 games and made the playoffs, but when he left the next year, the team won nine fewer games and missed the postseason.
- Next up was Houston in 2017-18, which increased its win total by 10 victories over the previous season as Paul led the team to a franchise-best 65-17 record. He’d play just two seasons for the Rockets, but the year after he left, Houston regressed just as Los Angeles did and won nine fewer games.
- Paul’s one year in Oklahoma City (2019-20) shouldn’t be overlooked either as the Thunder had just traded away Russell Westbrook and Paul George and was expected to be a cellar dweller. But Paul led OKC to 44 wins and a playoff berth, and when he departed the next year, the Thunder won half as many games.
- The Point God’s last instance of brilliance came with the Phoenix Suns in 2020-21. Phoenix was riding a decade-long playoff drought but benefitted from the “Chris Paul Effect” instantly. In his first season in the desert, Paul led the Suns to just their third NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. During his three years with Phoenix, the team won at least one postseason series every year, but the year that Paul left (2023-24), Phoenix couldn’t win even a single playoff game.
