About Chris Paul:
Chris Paul (born May 6, 1985, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.) is an American professional basketball player who became one of the biggest stars of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the early 21st century. One long-held basketball belief—that of a “pure point guard”—is challenged by Paul’s career alone. Traditionally, a pure point guard is considered as a selfless, highly intellectual player whose main job is to set up teammates to score.
Chris Paul was regarded by the NBA as one of the most talented and natural playmakers in history. He moved among teammates (and opponents) like a master chess player and delivered passes that were nearly impossible to understand. At the same time, he scored with ease, whether it was shooting crisp jump shots from beyond or gliding effortlessly to the basket.
Chris Paul was good in both basketball and football as a child, but he picked basketball in high school—even though, as a freshman, he was just a little over 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and deemed too little to play. But his talent developed rapidly. By the time he went to play college basketball at Wake Forest University, he had shot up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) and was regarded as one of the top prospects in the country.
Chris Paul spent two years at Wake Forest, exhibiting his extraordinary skill and ferocious competitive streak—traits that often brought him into controversy with referees. After declaring for the 2005 NBA draft, the New Orleans Hornets selected him fourth overall. Even more remarkably, he established himself as a leader while still a rookie and won Rookie of the Year by an almost unanimous vote.
Due to Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets played “home” games throughout the American South, particularly in Oklahoma City, during his debut season as a professional. As a result, during an otherwise challenging season, Paul came very close to becoming an ambassador for New Orleans.
Chris Paul demonstrated his true brilliance in his third season, leading the Hornets to the second-best record in the Western Conference, making his first All-Star appearance, and emerging as a genuine contender for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Despite being out for much of 2009–10 due to injury, he had two more successful seasons. Meanwhile, the Hornets’ overall condition continued to decline. Even though they made it to the 2010–11 playoffs, Paul was frequently the only one who kept them competitive.
After the 2011 labor lockout, it became evident that the Hornets needed to rebuild, and Paul was moved to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the league vetoed the deal—a contentious move, given the NBA briefly owned the Hornets due to the previous owner’s financial irresponsibility.
Shortly later, Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers instead. Joining the team before the 2011–12 season, he swiftly transformed them into one of the league’s most exciting and dangerous teams. In 2013, he re-signed with the Clippers long-term, showing his goal to build them into a powerhouse in the Western Conference.
In both 2013–14 and 2014–15, Chris Paul led the league in assists per game, continuing his outstanding regular-season play. The Clippers were eliminated in the second round of the 2013–14 playoffs—the sixth time in Paul’s career that his club failed to advance past that round.
When he overcame a hamstring injury and made the game-winning shot in Game 7 of the opening series against the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs in the 2014–15 postseason, it appeared for a moment that he had overcome his postseason problems. But in the following round, the Clippers lost to the Houston Rockets after blowing a 3–1 series lead.
Chris Paul resumed his great performance in 2015–16, but the Clippers’ season ended in misery once again. In Game 4 of their first playoff series, both Paul and teammate All-Star Blake Griffin sustained season-ending injuries (Paul broke his hand, while Griffin strained his quadriceps), and the club was eliminated early.
Chris Paul missed 14 games in the 2016–17 season due to a ruptured ligament in his left thumb, yet he still helped the Clippers achieve 51 wins and the playoffs. However, Griffin sustained another season-ending injury early in the postseason, and Los Angeles lost a seven-game series. Paul informed the Clippers in 2018 that he would not sign a contract extension, and the following offseason he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
In Houston, Chris Paul linked up with star shooting guard James Harden and led the Rockets to the NBA’s best record (65–17) in 2017–18. Paul eventually moved beyond the second round of the playoffs that season, but a late-game injury in Game 5 of the conference finals (a game that placed Houston up 3–2 in the series) ruled him out of the final two matchups—both of which were won by the Golden State Warriors. In 2018–19, he made a comeback, but age and injuries eventually caught up with him.
He averaged a career-low 15.6 points per game as his output started to wane. The Warriors eliminated the Rockets from the playoffs once more. Houston made the decision to make adjustments and traded Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason after losing to Golden State twice in the postseason.
Surprisingly, Paul led a young Thunder team to the playoffs in the 2019–20 season. Paul was moved to the Phoenix Suns the following offseason after the rebuilding team decided to let go of his pricey veteran contract. His presence rejuvenated and galvanized the inexperienced Suns club, and the team posted the second-best record in the NBA during the 2020–21 season.
Paul guided Phoenix through the Western Conference playoff round and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. There, the Suns wasted a 2–0 series lead as the Milwaukee Bucks won four straight games to eliminate them. As a result, Paul made NBA history by being the first player to lose four playoff series after his team led 2–0.
He became the first player in NBA history to finish his career with 20,000 points and 10,000 assists in October 2021. During the 2021–22 season, he helped the Suns reach the best record in the league and established a franchise-record 64 wins, albeit Phoenix was defeated in the second round of the playoffs.
After another second-round departure in 2022–23, the Suns moved Paul to the Washington Wizards, who then traded him to the Golden State Warriors a few days later. In addition to his career achievements, Paul played a significant role in the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s basketball teams at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.