By Alex KirschenbaumShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberFuture first-ballot Hall of Famer Chris Paul, no doubt noticing he has become borderline unplayable on a bad LA Clippers team, will be wrapping up his NBA career after a 21-season run this spring, per Shams Charania of ESPN.
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The 12-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA honoree and nine-time All-Defensive Teamer is generally recognized as one of the greatest pure point guards in league history. A lethal shooter, passer and defender in his prime, Paul guided the then-New Orleans Hornets (who drafted him with the No. 4 pick in 2005), the Clippers, the Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns to deep playoff runs.
More news: Stephen A Smith Doesn’t Hold Back on Clippers' Kawhi Leonard
Although questions about his durability hampered him for much of his early career, a transition to a plant-based diet in 2019 revived his career, extended his All-Star peak far beyond what could reasonably expected out of a small guard. He remained an effective contributor as he even after his Suns ran came to an end, serving as a solid rotation piece on the 2023-24 Golden State Warriors and the 2024-25 San Antonio Spurs.
Sadly, the ride seems to have come to an end this season. Paul agreed to a one-year, $3.6 million deal to rejoin the Clippers over the summer. His family has been based in LA since his celebrated first stint in town, from 2011-17.
Last year on the Spurs, Paul started all 82 games, averaging 8.8 points on a respectable .427/.377/.924 slash line, plus 7.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per.
...In just 10 games games for the 4-11 Clippers (he's been an occasional healthy scratch, courtesy of head coach Tyronn Lue), Paul has been averaging 2.5 points on 27.3 percent field goal shooting, 3.3 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 steals across 13.7 minutes per.
The Clippers are currently the Western Conference's No. 13 seed. Age and health have been sticking points thus far in LA's cursed 2025-26 season. LA flipped over-performing shooting guard Norman Powell to the Miami Heat in a three-team exchange with the Utah Jazz, netting John Collins in the process. While Collins has been competent, Powell (whom LA clearly didn't want to pay for his next deal) has continued to look like a borderline All-Star. The move was a harbinger of things to come for the Clippers' doomed offseason.
LA also re-signed 36-year-old former MVP point guard James Harden and 36-year-old forward Nicolas Batum, while bringing in Paul, 37-year-old former All-Star center Brook Lopez, and 32-year-old former All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal. The team also includes 34-year-old former All-Star small forward Kawhi Leonard and 32-year-old bench guard Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Beal played just six games before fracturing his hip and getting ruled out for the season, Leonard will miss his 10th straight game Saturday with ankle and foot sprains, and none of these aging players have looked like their peak selves.
Paul himself took to his official Instagram to post what could be interpreted as a cagey possible retirement announcement.
Ahead of a matinee against the Charlotte Hornets, Paul posted a video montage spanning his entire life and basketball career. The 6-footer out of Wake Forest captioned the post, writing, "Back in NC!!! What a ride…Still so much left…GRATEFUL for this last one!!"
View contenthttps://www.instagram.com/p/DRXIPfzDWLI/
Paul, 40, was born in Winston-Salem, attended high school at West Forsyth in Clemmons, North Carolina, and then returned to Winston-Salem for his two seasons of college.
Across 1,364 career regular season games, Paul boasts averages of 16.9 points on .469/.369/.871 shooting splits, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals a night. He has led one of his teams, the 2020-21 Suns, as far as the NBA Finals as one of its two best players. Paul has finished among the top 10 in league MVP voting a whopping 10 times, including five top-five finishes.
More news: Clippers $30 Million Star Wing to Miss Multiple Months with New Injury
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