![](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/P07-260215-338.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star point guard, on Friday announced his retirement in a social media post after the 40-year-old US player was released by the Toronto Raptors. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is it! After 21 years I\u2019m stepping away from basketball,\u201d Paul posted on Instagram after being dropped following his trade to Toronto by the Los Angeles Clippers last week. <\/p>\n
Paul has averaged 16.8 points, 9.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game over 1,370 career NBA games for New Orleans, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Golden State, San Antonio and the Clippers. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo: AP<\/p>\n
The 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year was a two-time Olympic champion with the US squad of NBA stars, winning in 2008 at Beijing and 2012 in London. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 21 remarkable seasons, Chris Paul retires as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history and a true steward of our sport,\u201d NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. \u201cFrom the moment he entered the league, Chris distinguished himself with his savvy playmaking skills, elite competitiveness and intense work ethic.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAs I write this, it\u2019s hard to really know what to feel, but for once \u2014 most people would be surprised \u2014 I don\u2019t have the answer lol!\u201d Paul posted. \u201cBut, mostly I\u2019m filled with so much joy and gratitude! While this chapter of being an \u2018NBA player\u2019 is done, the game of basketball will forever be ingrained in the DNA of my life.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in the NBA for more than half of my life, spanning three decades. It\u2019s crazy even saying that!\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n
Paul, the NBA 2013 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, stressed how much he simply enjoyed playing in the NBA. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying basketball for a living has been an unbelievable blessing that also came with lots of responsibility,\u201d Paul wrote. \u201cI embraced it all. The good and the bad.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a lifelong learner, leadership is hard and is not for the weak. Some will like you and many people won\u2019t, but the goal was always the goal, and my intentions were always sincere (Damn, I love competing!!).\u201d <\/p>\n
Paul never played on an NBA championship team, coming the closest in 2021 when, as a member of the Phoenix Suns, he reached the NBA Finals, only to lose to Milwaukee. <\/p>\n
Paul had not played since Dec. 1 last year the Clippers moving away from him after a 5-16 start, but never releasing him and saving money under NBA salary cap rules in the trade. <\/p>\n
His career also included a stint as president of the National Basketball Players Association from 2013 to 2021, helping the union secure collective bargaining agreements with the league. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe also poured enormous time and energy into his role as President of the Players Association \u2014 offering thoughtful and principled perspectives to strengthen our game and our business,\u201d Silver wrote. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis leadership on behalf of the players was essential in negotiating collective bargaining agreements, helping guide the league through a [COVID-19] pandemic, addressing important societal issues and so much more,\u201d he wrote. \u201cOn behalf of the NBA, I congratulate Chris on an extraordinary career and thank him for his friendship, partnership and lasting contributions to our game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star point guard, on Friday announced his retirement in a social media post…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6,3974,3973],"class_list":{"0":"post-604420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clippers","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-clippers","12":"tag-laclippers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesclippers","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-the-taipei-times","19":"tag-3973"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116074285474995961","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}