Feb. 14, 2026, 3:00 p.m. CT
As the NBA entered its 2026 All-Star break, one of the greatest players ever unceremoniously announced his retirement as the rug was pulled underneath his feet. Chris Paul called it a career on social media after the Toronto Raptors waived him.
The LA Clippers traded him as a salary-dump move at the NBA trade deadline. Reading the room, the 40-year-old had no other team to go to in his final season in the league. The Hall-of-Fame-bound basketball legend didn’t get the fireworks he’d hoped for when he returned to his old franchise this past summer.
Paul only played in 16 games this season. Before LA shockingly sent him home in Dec. 2025. The move shocked the NBA world, to say the least. Hasn’t even been six months since the Clippers welcomed him back. Stuck on their roster, they finally completed the paperwork to complete a messy divorce — something the franchise has been known for. Ask Blake Griffin.
Just a straight-up disrespectful way to treat Paul. Sure, the Clippers have played better, but that doesn’t justify how badly LA treated the biggest star in its sad franchise history. If you want to cite locker room problems, sure. But you had him in your building for six seasons. What did you think you were signing up for?
At the 2026 NBA All-Star Media Day, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander talked about Paul’s impromptu retirement. Both joined OKC at the same time in the 2019-20 season. They were part of trade packages for Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
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Viewed as a player on the downward trend, Paul completely revitalized his NBA career in his lone season on the Thunder. He was an All-NBA member and led OKC to a surprise playoff berth, where he took his old squad to seven games in Round 1 against the Houston Rockets.
More importantly, though, Paul helped Gilgeous-Alexander show what it takes to be one of the league’s best players. The latter surpassed the former’s career accomplishments last year with an MVP trophy and a championship ring. But his NBA superstar meteoric rise wouldn’t have happened without learning from his mentor.
“Chris was special for my career. Off the court, he was the first person that I was around to really take care of their body and show me the importance of the weight room,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “His life was really like a regimen. It allowed him to be successful on the court. Chris was like the first point guard for me. He was the first point guard that I studied. I was in high school, and I was watching how he read the pick and roll. I was watching how he controlled the game. He was the standard for a point guard. And obviously, fast forward a couple of years, he’s one of my closest friends.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s relationship with Paul was highlighted in Netflix’s ‘Starting 5’ series that captured his once-in-a-lifetime season last year. You saw the latter spend time with him during OKC’s championship run in the playoffs last year. He even attended some Thunder home games.
While the NBA can be a cold business, how the Clippers cut Paul’s retirement tour so early really soured the rest of the league. Gilgeous-Alexander was the latest to agree that the 12-time All-Star was done dirty. But a bad few months don’t take away from a legendary 21 years.
“Honestly, it’s sad the way it’s happened. I thought he would get his flowers a little bit differently, but that’ll never change what he’s done for this game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m proud of him. He’s been special. Hopefully, I can get to that level of mastering the game of basketball.”