Chris Paul possesses one of the most impressive resumes in basketball history. A 12-time All-Star, six-time assists champ, five-time steals champ, 11-time All NBA, nine-time All Defense, and now, the second-most assists in NBA history.
With this assist to Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul passed Jason Kidd for second on the NBA all-time assist leaderboard.
CP3 to Wemby.
Assist No. 12,092.
Chris Paul is now 2nd all-time in dimes! pic.twitter.com/h6yZt2cDZR
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2024
CP3 has worked hard for most of his assists, so we'll let him have this easy one, and inbound to Wemby.
While LeBron James was climbing up the all-time scoring ladder, the list of all-time scorers was very public. But the list of all-time great passers isn't quite as notorious among NBA fans.
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Player Assists
John Stockton 15,806
Chris Paul 12,099
Jason Kidd 12,091
LeBron James 11,219
Steve Nash 10,335
Mark Jackson 10,334
Magic Johnson 10,141
Oscar Robertson 9,887
Russell Westbrook 9,608
Isiah Thomas 9,061
Is anyone ever going to catch John Stockton on this list? It doesn't seem likely, at least not anytime soon. Luka Doncic is the active player with the best chance to catch him, but even that feels like a stretch. Maybe LeBron James will just never retire; if he plays until he's 65, he'll have a chance.
Russell Westbrook's place in the NBA looked precarious a few years ago, but he's found a good rapport with Nikola Jokic, and now the 10,000 assist mark is in reach.
Stockton's record is extra wild because he accomplished it all with one team. He played for the Jazz from 1984 until his retirement in 2003, and averaged over 10 assists per game in 10 of those seasons — he led the NBA in assists in nine of those seasons.
So not only did Stockton have the longevity and the consistent output season after season, he also played pretty much every game. In his first 13 seasons in the league, Sotckton missed four games. Total!
Chris Paul should feel accomplished for passing Jason Kidd on this list. In fact, NBA players should probably shoot for No. 2 on this list, because passing Stockton doesn't feel realistic.
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