Chris Paul, one of the greatest point guards in NB history, confirmed Saturday that he plans to retire at the end of the 2025-26 season. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press)
The NBA’s greatest players cast shadows so long that even a future first-ballot Hall of Famer can be eclipsed.
Once Chris Paul retires at season’s end, he’s destined to receive the John Stockton treatment. Stockton, of course, is the only player who ranks above Paul on the NBA’s all-time lists for assists and steals, but history remembers him mostly as one of the many 1990s legends who never won a championship thanks to Michael Jordan. Like Stockton, Paul is a brilliant and feisty undersized point guard who displayed amazing longevity. Like Stockton, Paul will exit the game with a stacked résumé but no rings, barring a miracle. And like Stockton and his Jordan dilemma, Paul will be passed over by future generations in favor of Stephen Curry, whose rocket ship to basketball immortality came directly at Paul’s expense.