Chris Paul, nicknamed "The Point God", is an American professional basketball player
for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association.
Playing the point guard position, he has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star
Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists four
times and steals a record six times.
He has also been selected to eleven NBA All-Star teams, ten All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive
teams.
Paul has served as the president of the National Basketball Players Association since August
2013.
Among the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with companies
such as Air Jordan and State Farm.
Chris Paul was born May 6, 1985 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to Charles Edward Paul and
Robin Jones.
He has an older brother, named Charles "C.J." Paul.
A former athlete himself, Charles Sr. taught his sons basketball and football and coached
them in various youth leagues throughout their childhoods.
Growing up, the Paul brothers spent their summers working at a service station owned
by their grandfather, Nathanial Jones.
Paul attended West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina.
During his freshman and sophomore seasons, he played on the junior varsity team.
For his junior year, he averaged 25 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.4 steals per game, helping
West Forsyth reach the state semifinals.
Over the ensuing summer, he led the Winston-Salem-based Kappa Magic to the National U-17 AAU title,
earning tournament MVP honors in the process.
During his senior season, Paul received national attention for scoring 61 points in a game.
Paul finished the season with averages of 30.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and
6 steals per game, leading West Forsyth to a 27–3 record and the Class 4A Eastern Regional
finals.
As a freshman at Wake Forest University, Paul averaged 14.8 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.7
steals per game, setting school freshman records for three-point percentage, free throws, free
throw percentage, assists, and steals in the process.
Behind his play, the Demon Deacons qualified for the NCAA Tournament, losing in the Sweet
Sixteen to St. Joseph's.
At the conclusion of the season, Paul was named ACC Rookie of the Year and Third Team
All-ACC.
For two weeks early in Paul's sophomore season, Wake Forest was ranked number one in the nation
for the first time in school history.
On January 15, 2005, Paul scored 26 points and 8 assist in victory over North Carolina.
With final averages of 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 2.4 steals per game, Paul
was eventually named First Team Consensus All-America, and with a 3.21 grade point average
(GPA), he was also named to ESPN's Academic All-America Team.
On April 15, 2005, he announced he would be hiring an agent and turning professional.
Paul was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets.
Due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets played most of their
games in Oklahoma City in his first two seasons with the Hornets.
Paul finished the season leading all rookies in points, assists, steals, and double-doubles,
and became only the second rookie in NBA history to lead the league in total steals.
With final averages of 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, he was
named NBA Rookie of the Year, falling just one vote shy of winning the award unanimously.
The only other rookie to receive a first place vote was Deron Williams, with whom Paul enjoyed
a brief rivalry early in their careers.
At the 2007 All-Star Weekend, Paul set new Rookie Challenge records with 17 assists and
9 steals.
For his sophomore season, he increased his scoring and passing averages to 17.3 points
and 8.9 assists per game, but played in only 64 games due to injury.
Paul was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game in 2007–08, playing in front of his
home fans in New Orleans.
Behind his leadership, the Hornets were near the top of the Western Conference standings
all year, temporarily occupying first place on March 17 following a win against the Chicago
Bulls.
New Orleans finished the season with a franchise-record 56 wins and the second seed in the West.
Paul led the NBA with 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game to go along with 21.1 points
per game, finishing second in NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting and being named to his
first All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
In his playoff debut, he scored 35 points against the Dallas Mavericks.
In Game 2, he set a franchise playoff record with 17 assists.
The Hornets defeated the Mavericks in five games, with Paul registering 24 points, 11
rebounds, and 15 assists in the final game.
New Orleans were eliminated in the next round by the San Antonio Spurs.
Prior to the start of the 2008–09 season, Paul signed a contract extension with the
Hornets worth $68 million.
On December 17, 2008, he set the NBA record for consecutive games with a steal at 106.
His final averages were 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 2.8 steals per game.
After a slow start to the 2009–10 season, the Hornets fired coach Byron Scott.
In early February 2010, Paul tore cartilage in his left knee and was sidelined for over
a month by surgery, forcing him to miss the All-Star Game.
In total, he played in only 45 games and his averages dropped to 18.7 points, 3.8 rebounds,
10.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
In 2010–11, Paul had another injury scare on March 6, 2011, suffering a concussion after
colliding with Cavaliers guard Ramon Sessions and being carried off the court on a stretcher.
He returned two games later, registering 33 points and 15 assists against the Sacramento
Kings.
With Paul playing a full season, the Hornets qualified for the playoffs and were matched
up with the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
Paul had a "historically great" performance in the series, contributing 33 points, 14
assists, and 4 steals in Game 1 and 27 points, 13 rebounds, and 15 assists in Game 4.
His final averages were 22 points, 6.7 rebounds, 11.5 assists, and 1.8 steals per game on 54.5
percent shooting.
On December 8, 2011, the Hornets agreed to a three-team trade sending Paul to the Los
Angeles Lakers.
The NBA, who owned the Hornets at the time, nullified the deal, with commissioner David
Stern claiming New Orleans would be better off keeping Paul.
The teams involved in the trade attempted to lobby the league to reverse its ruling
and reconstruct the deal, to no avail.
On December 12, the Hornets agreed to a trade sending Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers,
but the deal broke down after the NBA added additional demands to the original terms.
Two days later, the teams finally made the trade, sending Paul and two future second
round draft picks to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and
the Minnesota Timberwolves' unprotected first round pick in the 2012 draft, which was used
to draft Austin Rivers.
Upon the deal's completion, Paul announced that he would opt into the final year of his
contract and remain in Los Angeles for at least two more seasons.
Prior to the start of the 2013–14 season, Paul re-signed with the Clippers for five
years on a contract worth approximately $107 million.
Despite a shoulder injury that sidelined him for over a month, Los Angeles set another
new franchise record for wins with 57.
His final averages were 19.1 points, 10.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.
In 2014–15, Paul played in all 82 games for the first time in his career, averaging
19.1 points and a league-high 10.2 assists per game.
In January of the 2015–16 season, Paul led the Clippers on a ten-game winning streak
despite missing Griffin and Jordan at various points due to injury.
For the third straight year, he finished the season with averages of over 19 points, 10
assists, and 2 steals per game.
In Game 4, Paul broke his hand and was ruled out indefinitely.
Without Paul, as well as Griffin, who also injured himself in Game 4, Los Angeles eventually
lost the series in six games.
In 2016–17, Paul missed 21 regular season games due to rest or injury, and averaged
18.1 points, 9.2 assists, and 5 rebounds in just over 31 minutes per game.
On June 28, 2017, Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Beverley,
Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Lou Williams, Kyle Wiltjer,
a future first round pick, and cash considerations.
In his debut for the Rockets in their season opener on October 17, 2017, Paul had four
points on 2-for-9 shooting in a 122–121 win over the Golden State Warriors.
On July 8, 2018, Paul signed a four-year, $160 million maximum contract extension with
the Rockets.
Paul received a two-game suspension early in the 2018–19 season for his involvement
in an on-court fight against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 20.
Additionally, Paul was fined a total of $491,782 for his role in the fracas.
On July 16, 2019, the Houston Rockets traded Paul, 2024 and 2026 first round picks, and
2021 and 2025 second round pick swaps to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Russell
Westbrook.
He debuted for the Thunder in a 100–95 loss to the Utah Jazz on October 23, 2019, putting
up 22 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.
On July 8, 2021, Chris Paul surpassed Kobe Bryant's achievement and conquered the iconic
milestone in the NBA.
He scored 23 points and 8 assists in his second leg of the NBA Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks
(118: 108, 2-0).
Paul ranked 10th in NBA history in playoff assists, surpassing Kobe Bryant (1,040 assists).
Paul now has 1,041 assists in postseason games.
In the near future, Chris may overtake tenth Scotty Pippen (1048 assists).
Magic Johnson tops the list of the best assistants in NBA history (2346), LeBron James (1919)
is second, John Stockton closes the top three (1839).
Paul married his college sweetheart, Jada Crawley, on September 10, 2011.
Together they have two children, a son born in May 2009 and a daughter born in August
2012.
On November 11, 2011, Paul appeared with his family on Family Feud.
In 2018, Paul purchased a minority ownership stake in the Winston-Salem Dash, a minor league
baseball team located in his hometown.
Paul has been a vegan since 2019, and is a brand ambassador for Beyond Meat.
After switching to a vegan diet, Paul exhibited significant statistical and performance improvements
following career lows during the 2018–19 season with the Houston Rockets.
Paul is also in partnership with Gopuff, with the intentions to expand the latter's selection
of plant-based foods and products, particularly those made and distributed by black- and brown-owned
businesses.
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