Chris Paul announced his retirement from the NBA on Friday with a post on social media.
“This is it! After over 21 years I’m stepping away from basketball,” Paul wrote. “As I write this, it’s hard to really know what to feel, but for once—most people would be surprised—I don’t have the answer lol! But mostly I’m filled with so much joy and gratitude.”
Paul’s announcement came shortly after he was waived by the Raptors, who acquired him at the trade deadline in a deal with the Clippers.
This year should have been a celebration of Paul’s incredible career. Before the start of the season, he signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles, where he had established himself as a franchise legend in an earlier stint, but the retirement tour soured quickly.
The Clippers struggled through the start of the season, and reports surfaced of tensions between Paul and the team’s leadership. In early December, the Clippers unceremoniously dismissed him from the team. When he was traded to the Raptors at the deadline, he was never asked to report to Toronto, and eventually waived. Rather than search for another suitor for a final playoff push, Paul’s retirement tour simply came to an unfortunate, early end.
It should not have happened this way. Paul is one of the greatest players of his generation, and the fact that his final season ended with a whimper and not a bang is a travesty. Below we take a look at the incredible career Paul built over two decades in the NBA. There’s a reason they call him the Point God.
A Wake Forest legend
The trademark aspects of Paul’s game, specifically his high basketball IQ and fierce defense, were clear from his freshman year at Wake Forest. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 2004 after averaging 14.8 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game and helping lead the Demon Deacons to the Sweet 16.
In his sophomore campaign, Paul helped Wake Forest achieve the No. 1 rank in the country for the first time in school history. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game, but was unable to turn a successful regular season into a deep run in March Madness. After two years of school, Paul declared for the NBA draft.
No. 3 is drafted No. 4
Paui didn’t have to wait long to hear his name called at Madison Square Garden, with the Hornets selecting him with the No. 4 pick. Andrew Bogut (Bucks), Marvin Williams (Hawks) and Deron Williams (Jazz) were the only players taken ahead of him.
It also didn’t take long for the world to realize that New Orleans had gotten the steal of the draft class.
The Point God is born
As a rookie, Paul averaged 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game for the Hornets en route to being named Rookie of the Year. Due to damage done by Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets played the majority of their home games in Oklahoma City through his first two seasons with the team.
In his third year, Paul made the leap, both as a player and a leader of his team. With the Hornets playing back in New Orleans, Paul led the team to a 56–26 record, good for second in the West, averaging more than 21 points, 11 assists and nearly three steals a game. His marks in assists and steals led the entire NBA. He finished second in MVP voting behind Kobe Bryant, and was named to the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams for the first time.
The Hornets beat the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Spurs in seven games in the conference semifinals.
The next year, Paul’s game remained elite, but the Hornets were not as dominant as they had been the previous year, finishing seventh in the West, and in 2009-10, an injury forced him to miss half of the season, leaving the Hornets short of the playoffs.
One moment we’ll never forget: Coming up just three steals shy of a quadruple double against the 76ers.
Two trades to Los Angeles
After the conclusion of the 2011 season, Paul made clear that he intended to become a free agent in the coming offseason and would not be re-signing with New Orleans on an extension. The Hornets began looking for a trade partner that could provide some value in return, rather than letting Paul walk for free.
Just before the start of the 2011-12 season, which had been delayed due to a lockout, general manager Dell Demps worked out a three-team deal that would send Paul to the Lakers. However, the Hornets were owned by the league at that time, and NBA commissioner David Stern vetoed the deal, leaving the basketball world reeling.
When the dust settled, a new trade was forged, sending Paul to the Clippers, rather than the Lakers. While Paul teaming up with Kobe remains one of the great what-if’s? in NBA history, his next chapter was plenty entertaining on its own.
The rise of Lob City
With the Clippers, Paul, alongside Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, established the franchise as more than just a little brother to the Lakers. After years of underperformance, the Clippers jumped to become one of the most exciting and winning franchises in the league.
Dubbed “Lob City” for the incredible aerial pursuits of Griffin and Jordan, and Paul’s uncanny ability to find them in the air, the Clippers were must-see basketball.
One moment we’ll never forget: This alley-oop to Jordan.
Another moment we’ll never forget: His game-winning bucket in the final seconds of Game 7 against the Spurs in the first round of the 2015 playoffs.
Paul spent six seasons with the Clippers as an elite guard, and was named an All-Star in all but his final year with the team.
But despite sustained success in the regular season, Los Angeles always seemed to come up short in the playoffs, never making it past the conference semifinals.
A super team in Houston
After six years with the Clippers, Paul was moved again, this time traded to the Houston Rockets to join James Harden in the backcourt. On paper, it was a puzzling pairing, given that both Paul and Harden were ball-dominant players on offense. It felt like the experiment was a bold one that was doomed to fail. It wasn’t.
In his first year in Houston, the Rockets won a franchise-record 65 games and secured the No. 1 seed in the West, while revolutionizing the sport with their investment in three-point shooting. Surrounding Paul and Harden with three-and-D players, Houston shot more threes than any team in history. Harden was named MVP, averaging a league-leading 30.4 points per game.
One moment we’ll never forget: Paul hitting Steph Curry with his own shimmy.
For the first time, Paul reached the conference finals, where the Rockets matched up against the Warriors. He came up clutch in Game 5, leading a rally in the fourth quarter to take a 3–2 lead in the series, but injured his hamstring in the process. Paul was unable to take the court for the final two games of the series, and the Rockets fell in heartbreaking fashion, memorably missing 27 straight threes route to blowing a 15-point lead in Game 7. Golden State went on to win the title.
Paul never reached those heights again with the Rockets. The following year, Houston again lost to the Warriors in the playoffs, this time in the conference semifinals.
The team decided to move Paul in favor of teaming Harden up with his old running mate Russell Westbrook, sending Paul to Oklahoma City.
The veteran journeyman and the quest for a ring
After being part of a triumvirate of talent in Los Angeles and a dynamic duo behind Harden in Houston, Paul, in his 15th season, shifted more towards being a facilitator and knowledgeable veteran rather than the centerpiece of a team’s offense.
Paul spent one year with the Thunder as a veteran leader on a young team that included Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who had been acquired from the Clippers in the Paul George deal.
Oklahoma City seemed largely in rebuild mode, and while it felt like Paul might look to be moved immediately to another potential contender, he embraced his role as a veteran leader for the team and continued to be one of the best court generals in the sport.
In the NBA Bubble, the Thunder faced off against the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, falling in seven games to Paul’s former team. In the Game 7 loss, Paul put up 19 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.
The following season, he jumped to the Suns, pairing up with budding star Devin Booker. Paul’s production remained high, putting up 16.4 points and 8.9 assists per game for Phoenix as they finished second in the West.
The Suns made it all the way to the NBA Finals that year—Paul’s first time making it to the championship series—but lost to the Bucks in six games.
The following season, the Suns earned the No. 1 seed in the West behind a 64–18 record. In the first round against the Pelicans, Paul had an historic 33-point game, going a perfect 14-of-14 from the floor against his former team.
But despite another great regular season, the Suns lost to the Mavericks in the conference semifinals in seven games. Paul would never get that close to a championship again.
From there, Paul continued his jump across the league, spending one year with the Warriors and another with the Spurs. In San Antonio, Paul started all 82 games in the 2024-25 season, providing guidance to the young core that has flourished in the 2025-26 season.
One moment we’ll never forget: Attempting to scam the All-Star skills competition with Victor Wembanyama.
A failed reunion in Los Angeles
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, Paul indicated that he wanted to be closer to his family in Los Angeles, and signed a one-year deal to return to the Clippers. He made clear that it would be his final season, and his homecoming in Los Angeles felt like a fitting end to his long and winding NBA journey.
But it wasn’t meant to be. The Clippers got off to a rough start, and tensions between Paul and the franchise seemed to reach a breaking point, with the Clippers stunningly sending him home in December. He was traded at the deadline to the Raptors, but never asked to report to Toronto.
When the Raptors waived him, he decided that the end had finally arrived.
It’s a disappointing end to Paul’s historic run, but that ending in no way defines his career. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, with a competitive spirit and basketball IQ that can stand against any player of his generation, and one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game.