When San Antonio Spurs’ point guard Chris Paul is finished with his NBA career, he will for sure be a Hall of Fame inductee. In the meantime though, Chris Paul is still adding to his resume as he just reached an important career assist record.
Chris Paul became only the third player in NBA history to reach an assist record of 12,000 career assists, as per ESPN. He joins Hall of Fame point guards John Stockton and Jason Kidd as the only players in league history to reach that milestone.
Paul reached that mark during the first quarter of the Spurs’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday with a lob to Victor Wembanyama.
Coincidently, that game also featured LeBron James, who is 882 assists way from reaching the 12,000 career assists mark. James came into the game sitting at 11,112 assists. About midway through the second quarter, James had dished out six assists, bringing his career total to 11,118.
Paul has had a Hall of Fame career with only an NBA championship missing from his resume. He is in his 20th season in the NBA at 39 years old.
Chris Paul joined the Spurs this offseason as a a free agent following the Golden State Warriors opting not to pick up his contract option for this season. The 12-time All-Star began his career with the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans whom he played for, for six seasons.
Related San Antonio Spurs NewsArticle continues below
Paul has also played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns. This season, he has appeared in all 12 games for the Spurs, at a little over 28 minutes per game.
He’s been averaging 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 46.3 percent shooting from the field, 37.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line. The veteran point guard was signed in part to help facilitate the development of Wembanyama.
David Yapkowitz is a basketball journalist for ClutchPoints, writing news on the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA Basketball for both men and women. The Los Angeles native has bylines with Basketball Insiders, SB Nation, and The Next Hoops.
Source link