Chris Paul
Teams
New Orleans Hornets - 2005-11
Los Angeles Clippers - 2011-17
Houston Rockets - 2017-19
Oklahoma City Thunder - 2019-20
Phoenix Suns - 2020-current
Playoffs
Appearances - 13 (2008,2009,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021)
Conference Finals - 2 (2018,2021)
NBA Finals - 1 (2021)
Championships - 0
Awards and Honors
Rookie of the Year - 2006
MVP - 0 (2008)
All-NBA First Team - 4 (2008,2009,2012,2013,2014,2015)
All-NBA Second Team - 5 (2009,2011,2013,2015,2016,2020,2021)
All-NBA Third Team - 1 (2011,2017)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Assists Per Game - #4
Total Assists - #5
Total Steals - #5
Steals Per Game - #10
Free Throw Percentage - #25
Three-Pointers Made - #40
Total Points - #51
League Leads
Assists Per Game (#1-2008,2009,2014,2015, #2-2010,2013, #3-2012,2019,2021, #4-2007,2011,2016,2017)
Steals Per Game (#1-2008,2009,2011,2012,2013,2014, #3-2006,2016,2017,2019, #5-2015)
Total Assists (#1-2008,2009,2015, #2-2011,2013,2021, #3-2012, #4-2014,2016, #5-2006)
Total Steals (#1-2006,2008,2009,2011,2012, #2-2013,2015, #3-2014, #4-2020)
Free Throw Percentage (#1-2021, #2-2018, #4-2016,2020, #5-2015)
After a sophomore season in which he averaged 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 2.4 steals per game and was named First Team All-American, Chris Paul was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the #4 overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.
Paul was already a star in his rookie season, averaging 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 2.2 steals. He was the second rookie in history to lead the league in total steals, and was one vote away from being the unanimous Rookie of the Year.
He posted slightly better averages in his second year, then exploded in his third year, averaging 21.1 points and leading the league in assists with 11.6 per game and steals with 2.7 per game. He finished #2 in the MVP voting behind Kobe Bryant, but I believe his dominant league-leading averages should have trumped Kobe's 7-point scoring margin over Paul. He also made his playoff debut that year, and posted a triple double in the final game of the first round, but they fell to the Spurs in the second round.
Paul averaged a career high 22.8 points the next year, and again led the league with 11.0 assists and 2.8 steals per game, but the team fell in the first round of the playoffs. He missed more than a month during the next year with a knee injury that required surgery, and the Hornets missed the playoffs as a result of missing their star.
Paul was back at full strength the next year, leading the league in steals for the third time, and he averaged 22.0 points, 11.5 assists, and 6.7 rebounds in the playoffs, but it wasn't enough for the Hornets to beat the Lakers, who eliminated them in 6 games in the first round.
Paul was traded to the Clippers before the next season, as the Hornets feared that he would leave in free agency the next year. He had another great season, averaging 19.8 points, 9.1 assists, and 2.5 steals, which again led the league, and led the Clippers to the playoffs for the first time in 6 years, even getting them to the second round, but that's as far as he would get in Los Angeles.
After leading the league in steals for the fifth time in 2013, but again losing early in the playoffs, the Clippers switched coaches, and Paul had another great season, even after missing more than a month with a shoulder injury, averaging 19.1 points and leading the league in both assists and steals in the same season for the third time, with 10.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. It was also the sixth time he had led the league in steals, which is the most of any player in history.
He led the league in assists for the 4th time in 2014-15 while again averaging 19.1 points per game, and in the playoffs he hit the series-winning shot in Game 7 in the first round, but they fell in the second round to Houston. The next year, he had the Clippers up 2-1 in the first round before breaking his hand in Game 4, and the team lost the series in 6 games. He played just one more year with the Clippers before they decided to trade him to Houston, again fearing that he would leave as a free agent the next year.
He missed 14 games at the beginning of his first season in Houston with a knee injury, but once he returned he was able to help Houston finish with the best record in the league while James Harden won the MVP. He closed out the Jazz in the second round of the playoffs with 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists to reach the Conference Finals for the first time in his career. In the Conference Finals, he led Houston to a Game 5 win that gave them a 3-2, but also injured his hamstring in the process, and was forced to miss the next 2 games while his team was eliminated by the Warriors in 7 games.
He suffered another hamstring injury the next year, which caused him to miss 17 games, and he ended up having the worst season of his career, averaging a career-low 15.6 points per game. He was traded after the season to Oklahoma City, where he dragged a rebuilding team to the playoffs, but the result was another first round exit.
Paul was traded last summer to the Phoenix Suns, and for the third time he took a team that had not made the playoffs in a while back to the postseason. He led the league in free throw percentage, shooting .934 from the line for the season, and was great in the playoffs, scoring 37 points with 7 assists to eliminate Denver in the second round, then 41 points with 8 assists to eliminate the Clippers in the Conference Finals, earning him his first-ever trip to the Finals. Unfortunately, they weren't able to close it out, losing to the Bucks in 6 games.
Chris Paul has led the league in steals more times than any other player in history, and also led the league in assists 4 times. He is already ranked #5 in league history in both categories, and is still playing at near-peak level despite being 36 years old. He is the leader among active players in both assists and steals, both total and per game, and has averaged at least 15 points in each of his 16 NBA seasons, in addition to averaging over 8 assists 15 times and over 2 steals 11 times. Judging on last year's performance, he could still move up several spots in this countdown before he hangs it up, but no matter what he is one of the greatest to ever play the game.
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