Chris Paul’s 20-year career began in New Orleans, back when the team was known as the Hornets. Last night, he climbed to second on the NBA’s all-time assists list in the same city. His historic accomplishment earned him praise from around the league and particularly from his former mentees, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker.
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Both superstar guards took to their Instagram to shout out the 39-year-old, writing “Point God” on their stories while resharing posts about Paul’s achievement.
CP3 gets congratulatory messages from Book and Shai pic.twitter.com/hCYlw63Qr1
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) December 9, 2024
Entering the game last night, Paul was just three assists away from passing Jason Kidd on the all-time assists list. Playing against his former team, the Spurs star threw a dime to Victor Wembanyama at the three-point line to pick up his 12,092nd assist in the first half.
Wemby very well may be the last superstar to learn under the tutelage of the ‘Point God’. But with his wealth of experience and generational IQ, Paul has played the mentor role to perfection during his recent pit stops.
He was traded to Oklahoma in 2019, during SGA’s first season with the Thunder. With the two of them sharing the frontcourt, OKC defied all expectations in their first season without Russell Westbrook. However, it wasn’t just their on-court success that has created a strong bond between the Western Conference guards.
“I try not to get emotional when I talk about Shai,” the 12-time All-Star had said on the ‘Point Forward’ podcast. “That was my first year living without my family, right? Without my wife and my kids in LA. And, man, Shai, he’s just a basketball head…And so Shai would come over to my house before practice, just to eat, cause I had a chef. You know what I’m saying? Night after games, Shai at my house.”
The following season, the Thunder would dive into their rebuild and trade Paul away to the Phoenix Suns, where the veteran point guard would build yet more relationships. His stint in Arizona saw more success too. In just his first season, CP3 helped the Suns make a run to the Finals – making his first appearance there.
Devin Booker’s deepest playoff runs came with Paul running the show and the 28-year-old remembers those years fondly. Talking about what he learned from the ‘Point God’, Book had said,” You can’t narrow it down to one thing…But, you know, he’s just a leader…He’s not scared to hold anybody accountable and everybody respects it because they know how much he cares and how much he watches this game.”
Paul would also break several records during his time with the Suns, surpassing Gary Payton on the all-time steals list, becoming the third player to cross 11,000 assists and the first player in NBA history to record 20,000 points and 11,000 assists in a career.
