Chris Paul, the \u201cPoint God\u201d who was a 12-time All-Star selection and two-time Olympic gold medalist, announced his retirement Friday in the capper of a 21-season career that surely will merit induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
Paul, 40, made the announcement on the first day of NBA All-Star Weekend at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, Calif. Paul spent his final season \u2014 an abbreviated one \u2014 with the Clippers, who sent him home in December and wound up trading him to the Toronto Raptors earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The Raptors knew Paul never would play in Toronto, and that begged the question about whether the Wake Forest legend would try to finish the season with another team in pursuit of the thing he never got \u2014 an NBA title.<\/p>\n
The answer came Friday. He\u2019s done. He said last summer that he has hated missing events with his children over the last few years, and now he can devote himself much more to his family and other interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for me to show up for others and in other ways,\u201d Paul wrote on a social media post, announcing the decision.<\/p>\n
He strongly hinted earlier this season that this would be his last. Paul was a four-time first-team All-NBA selection 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 that as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels really good knowing that I played and treated this game with the utmost respect since the day my dad introduced me to it,\u201d Paul wrote. \u201cIt was the very first relationship I ever knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul played for the New Orleans Hornets, Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs during his career, spending the last four years with four different teams.<\/p>\n
He also was a past president of the National Basketball Players Association \u2014 instrumental in getting the league through the bubble season when the pandemic struck in 2020 \u2014 and championed the NBA establishing better ties with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s 15th all-time in regular-season games played and 36th in points, was a six-time steals champion, five-time assists champion, nine-time All-Defensive team pick, 11-time All-NBA selection and part of the NBA\u2019s 75th anniversary team.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s one of six players in NBA history to have reached $400 million in career earnings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been playing basketball since I was 4 years old, and there\u2019s nothing other than my family that brings me more joy than the hard work and all that stuff that goes into it,\u201d he said in 2024. \u201cYeah, that\u2019s why we get to play a child\u2019s game and say it\u2019s my way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n