Chris Paul announced Friday that he is retiring from the NBA after a 21-season career, more than two months after the final game of his acrimonious brief second tenure with the Clippers.
“This is it! After 21 years I’m stepping away from basketball,” Paul wrote on Instagram. “As I write this, it’s hard to really know what to feel, but for once — most people would be surprised — I don’t have an answer lol!”
Paul was sent home by the Clippers following their Dec. 1 game at Miami. He had called out fellow Clippers players, coaches and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, a league source told the Los Angeles Times. The person added that Paul apologized, but “everyone was fed up,” according to the Times.
Paul signed a one-year, $3.6 million contract with the Clippers July 21, returning to Los Angeles to be closer to his family after six seasons elsewhere.
The 40-year-old point guard averaged a career-low 2.9 points and 3.3 assists in 14 minutes in 16 games with the Clippers this season, all off the bench.
The Clippers traded Paul to the Toronto Raptors Feb. 5 as part of a three-team deal hours before the NBA trade deadline.
He was waived Friday by the Raptors.
Paul, a 12-time All-Star and one of the most accomplished point guards of his generation, was chosen as NBA Rookie of the Year in 2006 and earned 11 All-NBA selections and nine All-Defensive team honors during his career. He was also selected to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
He reached the NBA Finals once, leading the Phoenix Suns to the finals in 2021, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Playing basketball for a living has been an unbelievable blessing that also came with lots of responsibility,” Paul wrote in the post.
“I embraced it all. The good and the bad. As a lifelong learner, leadership is hard and is not for the weak. Some will like you and many people won’t. But the goal was always the goal and my intentions were always sincere (Damn, I love competing!!).”