Chris Paul ends his career. After over 21 years, one of the best players in NBA history retires.
Basketball star Chris Paul is ending his career with immediate effect. The two-time Olympic champion and twelve-time NBA All-Star announced this on Instagram.
“That’s it! After over 21 years, I am retiring from basketball,” wrote the 40-year-old American, after being released by the Toronto Raptors. He added that the sport would “forever be rooted in my DNA.”
Chris Paul ends his career with immediate effect
Undignified End with the Los Angeles Clippers
After 21 seasons, Paul goes down as one of the best players in NBA history, although he never won a title. The point guard originally wanted to end his career after the season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but the Californians had parted ways with the club legend after only two months in early December.
The future Hall-of-Famer then moved to Toronto at the end of the trade deadline in early February, but Paul did not play for the Canadians. When the Raptors also released him on Friday, Paul called it quits.
Before his stints in Toronto and Los Angeles, the playmaker, who won Olympic gold medals in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, had played for the San Antonio Spurs, the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns, Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, and the New Orleans Hornets. Paul experienced his most successful period with the Clippers, for whom he also played between 2011 and 2017.
Paul was one of the Best Playmakers in NBA History
At the start of this season, Paul had returned to the Clippers and entered the season as the second-oldest player after LeBron James. In total, Paul, who was drafted by the Hornets in 2005 as the fourth pick, played 1370 games in the NBA. On average, Paul scored 16.8 points, 9.2 assists, and 4.4 rebounds. He is considered one of the best playmakers in NBA history.
“I’ve been in the NBA for more than half my life, across three decades. It’s crazy to be able to say that. Earning a living through basketball has been an incredible blessing,” Paul wrote.