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12 minutes ago
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Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul will be retiring after the end of the 2025-26 NBA season. Paul announced Saturday morning that his 21st season will be his last in the league.
Paul, 40, is a 12-time NBA All-Star, 11-time All-NBA member, nine-time All-Defense member and was the 2006 Rookie of the Year out of Wake Forest. He'll likely be one of the longest tenured players in league history without a championship.
The Tar Heel State native from Winston-Salem was named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team and even took home gold as part of Team USA in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Paul was drafted with the No. 4 pick by then-New Orleans Hornets in 2005 and spent the first six years of his career with the team. He then bounced around the Western Conference with the Clippers, Thunder, Rockets, Suns, Warriors and Spurs.
The NBA journeyman superstar will forever be linked to one of the biggest trade mishaps in sports history. The NBA-owned Hornets agreed to trade him to the Lakers as part of a three-team deal in December of 2011. However, then-commissioner David Stern vetoed the deal that would have paired Paul with Kobe Bryant. A few days later, he was traded to the Clippers. Same city with a different focus.
Before establishing himself in the NBA, Paul earned North Carolina Mr. Basketball honors in 2003 before committing to play for the hometown Demon Deacons. He was a consensus first-team All-American in 2005, averaging 15.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 2.4 steals per game at Wake.
Paul returned in 2013 to have his jersey retired by the school. He ranks second in NBA history in both assists and steals, behind only Utah Jazz great John Stockton in both.
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