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Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul already had a Hall of Fame-worthy resume ahead of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. By garnering Career Aid # 10 0000, Paul only bolstered his legendary status in the game.
The 11-time All-Star had 10,000 assists in spectacular fashion, throwing a perfect alley pass to big man Deandre Ayton, who raced down the lane and finished with a powerful two-handed jam. Paul finished with a triple-double on Sunday, contributing 11 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in Phoenix’s 111-94 victory.
By slashing that penny, Paul became the sixth player in NBA history to reach the 10,000 assists milestone with John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson. At his current rate, Paul will overtake Johnson this season and could catch up with Jackson and Nash.
Rank | Player | Total assists |
1. | John stockton | 15,806 |
2. | Jason kidd | 12,091 |
3. | Steve nash | 10 355 |
4. | Mark Jackson | 10 334 |
5. | Magic johnson | 10,141 |
6. | Chris Paul | 10,004 |
7. | Oscar robertson | 9 887 |
8. | James lebron | 9,669 |
9. | Isiah thomas | 9,061 |
ten. | Gary Payton | 8 966 |
Here are some statistics to remember from Paul following his milestone …
1. Paul has connected with multiple players on the way to his 10,000 assists, but no one more than with Blake Griffin. When Paul and Griffin were on the LA Clippers (2011-2016), Paul distributed 1,157 of his assists to Griffin. After that, his second most assisted teammate was David West – which coincided with West and Paul being teammates with the New Orleans Hornets (2005-11) as he found him for 1120 of his dimes.
Chris Paul’s Top 10 Career Support Connections
Player | Team | Help |
Blake griffin | LAKE | 1,157 |
David West | NO | 1120 |
JJ Redick | LAKE | 634 |
DeAndre Jordan | LAKE | 574 |
Peja Stojakovic | NO | 429 |
Rasual butler | NO | 320 |
Tyson chandler | NO | 299 |
Jamal Crawford | LAKE | 260 |
Matt barnes | LAKE | 226 |
Caron Butler | LAKE | 217 |
2. While Paul has played for five franchises in his career, he’s racked up most of his career assists with his first NBA team, the Hornets. Here is a team-by-team breakdown of his assists by team during his career …
The career of Chris Paul assists, by team:
NO: 4,228
BAC: 4 023
HO: 930
OKC: 472
PHX: 347 pic.twitter.com/DVfkQRTPoF– NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) March 22, 2021
3. In his 16th NBA season, Paul ranks fifth in the NBA with 8.8 assists per game. If he maintains his place, it would be Paul’s 13th season in the top five assists per game. He has four assists – 2007-08 and 2008-09 with New Orleans; 2013-14 and 2014-15 with LA Clippers – and only has one season where he finished less than seventh in his career.
How long can CP3 maintain this level of production at the end of their career and continue to climb the leaderboard all-time? Paul’s 8.8 assists per game in his 16th season or later were only matched by Nash, Kidd and LeBron James. LeBron is the only player to do so after his 16th season, when he won his first assist title in 2019-2020 in his 17th year.
This is Paul’s highest assist average since the 2016-17 season, but when you look at his consistency – he has only had three of 16 seasons with an assist average of less than 8.0. per game (rookie season 7.8; Houston first season 7.9; only career OKC season, 6.7) – there is no reason to believe his production will simply drop from a cliff. If anything, another season in Phoenix will see him develop even greater chemistry with Ayton, Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges, his first three assists this season.
Information from The Associated Press and NBA.com contributor Brian Martin has been used in this report.
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