Chris Paul didn’t do it.

Neither did Anthony Davis nor Zion Williamson.

In fact, no rookie who has ever put on a New Orleans Pelicans or Hornets uniform had ever done what Jeremiah Fears did Tuesday night in the Smoothie King Center.

Even Fears was shocked when he found out that the 40 points he scored in the 156-137 victory over the Utah Jazz was a new franchise record for a rookie.

“For real?” Fears asked. “That’s crazy.”

Yes, Jeremiah. For real.

And yes, that is crazy.

But truth be told, there was a plenty of craziness on this record-setting night in the Pelicans home finale. We’ll get to that later.

First things first though.

The 40 points eclipsed the previous rookie record of 37 points set by Marcus Thornton in the 2009-’10 season. Fears was just 3-years old when Thornton came off the bench and scored his 37 points in a road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fears’ record-setting night came in a much-needed win, snapping the Pelicans’ 8-game slide.

Fears shot 17-of-29 from the floor, but just made one of his seven 3-point attempts.

“That was an impressive run by him,” said Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego. “He made just one 3-pointer. The rest, he’s at the rim all night. He had three or four finishes that were elite finishes. At this young age to do that? The skill, the pace, the strength to go do this is elite.”

In addition to all the scoring, he also finished with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. That stat line also put him in some exclusive company. Over the last 10 years, the only other rookies to score 40 points with at least five assists and five rebounds are Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Trae Young and Cooper Flagg.

Fears nodded his head in approval and flashed a big smile as that exclusive list was read to him.

“That feels really good,” Fears said. “Those guys obviously each and every night go out there and show everybody what they are capable of. They’ve done some great stuff around the league. I know they are going to continue to do their thing. That’s big time. That’s huge.”

The elite company Fears joined didn’t stop there. The 19-year old Fears became the eighth teenager in NBA history with a 40-point game. The others on that list reads like a Who’s Who of basketball: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Cliff Robinson, GG Jackson, Edwards and Flagg.

Fears’ previous career-high was 28 points. It was clear by halftime that he was going to top that. He had 20 through the first two quarters in a game Borrego sat most of his normal starters. For the home crowd wanting to see the stars like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy and Saddiq Bey play one final home game, it was a bit of a disappointment. That disappointment flipped to excitement once Fears and Company came out the locker room for the second half. That’s when they started rewriting the record book.

The Pelicans set franchise records for points in a quarter (50 in the third), points in a half (95) and points in a game (156). The team got a much deserved standing ovation at game’s end.

Now Fears gets to take his show on the road for the final two games of the season. The Pels play the Boston Celtics Friday and the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday. You can best believe Fears will play in those last two games. He has played in all 80 games thus far, which probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. Afterall, Fears hasn’t missed a game since his freshman year of high school when he broke his thumb. He’s been going strong since.

“I’ve been learning a lot throughout the season,” Fears said. “Just trying to get better each and every game. I think I’ve been doing a good job with that.”

His coach would agree.

“I’m really just proud of his growth,” Borrego said. “From training camp to where he’s at today, he’s taken a massive step. This franchise is in a really good place because of players like him. Fantastic.”

Fears doesn’t recall scoring this many points in a game, but does recall a 55-point performance in middle school. His career-high at the University of Oklahoma last year was 31. None of that compare to what he did Tuesday.

“It’s a lot to wrap my head around,” Fears said. “But it’s huge.”

Everyone in the Smoothie King Center for the Pels’ final home game would agree.