Chris Paul, the “Point God,” 12-time All-Star selection and two-time Olympic gold medalist, announced his retirement Friday in the conclusion of a 21-season career that will surely merit induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Paul made the announcement on the first day of the NBA’s All-Star weekend at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, California. Paul spent his last season – a shortened one – with the Clippers, who sent him home in December and traded him to Toronto earlier this month.
The Raptors knew Paul would never play in Toronto, and that raised the question of whether the Wake Forest legend would try to finish the season with another team in search of the one thing he never got: an NBA title.
The answer came on Friday. He’s ready. He said last summer that he hated missing events with his children in recent years, and that he can now devote much more time to his family and other interests.
“It’s time for me to stand up for others and in different ways,” Paul wrote in a social media post announcing the decision.
He strongly hinted earlier this season that this year would be his last. Paul made the All-NBA first team four times and ranks second in NBA history with 12,552 assists and 2,728 steals. He was the first player to score at least 20,000 points while recording at least 10,000 assists; LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have since done the same.
Paul became perhaps the most talented player in Clippers franchise history as he led the team to six winning seasons from 2011 to 2017, including the Clippers’ first two Pacific Division titles and three playoff series wins. Paul returned to Los Angeles as a free agent last July, rejoining a franchise where he is loved by fans – but things quickly went south and Paul’s last game with the Clippers was on December 1.
It turned out to be his last NBA game, period.
“While this chapter of ‘being an NBA player’ is over, the game of basketball will forever be ingrained in the DNA of my life, spanning three decades,” Paul wrote. “It’s crazy to even say that! Playing basketball for a living has been an incredible blessing, which also came with the loss of responsibility. I’ve embraced it all.”
Paul is one of seven players with an NBA career lasting at least 21 seasons. And he is already in the Hall of Fame: the 2008 Olympic ‘Redeem Team’ was inducted as part of the class of 2025. It won’t be long before he goes in alone.
