When he eventually decides to retire, Chris Paul will be a no-question first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee. The decorated point guard is the ultimate floor general who has excelled on both sides of the floor and elevated every franchise he's been on.
As Paul's career winds down, the 40-year-old is now back with the Los Angeles Clippers, where he spent the majority of his prime, joining another team with lofty expectations.
CP3 will undoubtedly continue to add to his decorated resume, which includes being second all-time in assists and steals, trailing just John Stockton in both those categories.
Chris Paul NBA Career Stats
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While this living legend is considered among the greatest of all time at his position, Kendrick Perkins does not believe that Paul is a top 10 point guard ever.
The former center and current ESPN analyst, instead, listed ten point guards he believes are in front of CP3.
Some of these players can certainly be considered better and more decorated players than Paul, even though more than a few, including the last one on this list, will surely come with some controversy.
Perkins subsequently put the CP3 in a tier of point guards that will be considered by many to be disrespectful.
"CP3 is a Top 15 greatest point guard of all-time. I do not have him in my Top 10."
Magic Johnson
A no-brainer for this list, Magic Johnson was one of the most transcendent players in NBA history. The five-time champion was the face of the Showtime L.A. Lakers, which was one of this league's greatest dynasties.
Magic and Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird were the two faces of the 1980s for the NBA, and their rivalry was critical in saving what was at the time a financially struggling product.
Johnson is a consensus inclusion on greatest basketball players of all-time lists, so it's no surprise that Perkins included him here.
Magic Johnson NBA Career Stats
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Stephen Curry
We're getting the easy ones out quick. While Stephen Curry and Chris Paul have had a prolific rivalry throughout their careers, the greatest shooter ever holds the clear edge.
Curry is the face of the NBA's latest dynasty in the Golden State Warriors, and his ability to impact a game both with and without the ball in his hands has radically changed this league.
The two-time MVP is the only player who generally comes up as the closest competitor to Magic Johnson for the debate over the greatest point guard of all time.
Stephen Curry Career Stats
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Oscar Robertson
Oscar Robertson reinvented how the public viewed the point guard position.
While most floor generals were slight and facilitated the offense, The Big O was physical force and had a domineering will, which overwhelmed opponents, leading him to be the first player ever to average a triple-double.
Robertson was the offensive engine behind the Milwaukee Bucks' first NBA championship and is always listed high when it comes to the best point guards ever. Even Chris Paul would admit that his incredible resume is a bit below Oscar's.
Oscar Robertson NBA Career Stats
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John Stockton
In some ways, Chris Paul and John Stockton share many similarities. Two diminutive guards who were elite, feisty point-of-attack defenders, generational passers, and devastating pick-and-roll operators.
Both rank highly in terms of the highest basketball IQs ever. In addition, the two have made it to the NBA Finals, where it's up for debate on whether they were the best players on their respective teams.
Stockton, however, does hold the edge all-time in assists and steals and has made it to two NBA Finals with the Utah Jazz, both times falling to the dynastic Chicago Bulls.
Paul is the more dynamic scorer of the two, but Stockton's inclusion on this list over him is by no means egregious.
John Stockton NBA Career Stats
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"When you look at nine of these ten, they either have a championship or they have an MVP, except for John Stockton, but he’s the all-time leader in assists, so I could put CP3 above him, but CP3 is in my Top 15."
Isiah Thomas
Isiah Thomas may not have the gaudiest stats, but there's a reason that his longtime rival, Michael Jordan, considers him the second-greatest point guard ever.
And the two were never and will never be friends to this very day. The former Indiana standout was the face of the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons and went on one of the most polarizing runs in NBA history.
These teams were brutally physical, consistently dragging opponents into the mud. And Thomas was the offensive engine behind Detroit's two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.
Did Zeke rub opponents the wrong way throughout his career? Yes. Is he a Top 10 point guard ever? There's no debate on that. And he should've been on the 1992 Dream Team.
Isiah Thomas Career Stats
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"I thought championships mattered, and I thought MVPs mattered, and when you look at my list. Obviously, you have Isiah Thomas, who was playing in the era and won championships when he was competing against Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan."
Gary Payton
The Glove was one of the most ruthless competitors in NBA history. Gary Payton talked a lot throughout his career and almost always backed it up as the best player on the Seattle Supersonics.
Payton was a terror on defense throughout his career, especially in the 1990s, and followed that up with his dynamic scoring and passing on the other end.
Like several players on this list, if it wasn't for a guy by the name of Michael Jordan, the Oakland native would've led the Sonics to an NBA championship.
Payton did, however, get his much-deserved ring later in his career with the Miami Heat as a key player off the bench. That's a path Chris Paul would love to take with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gary Payton NBA Career Stats
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Steve Nash
Watching Steve Nash throughout the 2000s with the Phoenix Suns was probably like watching Leonardo da Vinci at the peak of his powers.
The Canadian floor general, alongside head coach Mike D'Antoni, reinvented how an NBA offense was supposed to operate with their pace-and-space and seven-seconds-or-less approach.
This all led to Nash racking up two MVPs in consecutive seasons and consistently having the Suns among the top contenders in the Western Conference throughout his career. Every pass the eight-time All-Star threw in the desert could've been an assist.
Still, unlike Nash, Paul was an elite defender and led the Phoenix Suns to an NBA Finals appearance. So, it's fair to debate between the two who is better. Even though Nash's two MVPs are hard to look past.
Steve Nash NBA Career Stats
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Jason Kidd
Like all the other point guards on this list, Jason Kidd was and still is a basketball savant, and it's no surprise that he is in this Top 10. Kidd's versatility and ability to step into whatever role was required of him are perhaps his most underrated traits.
The now-head coach of the Dallas Mavericks led the then-New Jersey Nets to two NBA Finals appearances before eventually returning to the Mavs, where he helped lead the franchise to its first-ever championship.
Who was the better player between Paul and Kidd is certainly a reasonable debate to have, but putting the ten-time All-Star ahead of CP3 shouldn't anger too many people.
Jason Kidd NBA Career Stats
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Bob Cousy
When it came to winning, no one did better than Bob Cousy on this list. The six-time champion was a key member of the Boston Celtics, leading these teams with his up-tempo style of play.
When it comes to accolades, Cousy separates himself from Paul in a few categories. However, it is fair to make the case that, relative to his era, Paul was the better player.
Cousy, like many players from this era, benefited from the lesser talent pool and the fact that the Celtics had significantly more weapons than almost all of their opponents.
The now-96-year-old still deserves absolute props for what he has accomplished throughout his career. The NBA wouldn't be where it is today without Bob Cousy. But is it fair to say CP3 was the better player? Yes.
Bob Cousy NBA Career Stats
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Russell Westbrook
Last on this list, and probably one of the more controversial inclusions, is Russell Westbrook. Not too long from today, the Long Beach, California native will take his rightful place in Springfield as a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
Westbrook is one of the most athletic point guards of all time and has put up some of the most ridiculous stat lines in NBA history. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound floor general became the first player in more than 50 years to average a triple-double during the 2016-17 season.
He then went on to hit that metric three more times after that MVP season. However, the arguments for Paul over Westbrook are valid.
CP3 is the more efficient of the two, the better decision maker, and the better defender. In addition, a team that has had Westbrook as its best player has never made it past the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The same cannot be said for Paul, even if you were to argue that Devin Booker was the best player on the Suns' team that made the NBA Finals.
It's certainly a lively debate that can be had between CP3 and Westbrook, even though Russ is the only one of the two with an MVP to his name.
Russell Westbrook NBA Career Stats
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"I don’t have CP3 ranked above Russell Westbrook. Did CP3 do a lot of things, change the franchise, win a lot of games, etc. Yes absolutely. I would never take that away from him… Russell Westbrook is a guy that had four triple-double seasons with an MVP, so I mean, look, CP3 is Top 15 in my eyes."
Overall, are Perkins' ten-point guards in front of Chris Paul far-fetched? Not exactly, however, the take he made below on what tier he considers Paul to be in is significantly more controversial.
"I think he’s in that range of when you talk about a guy like Chauncey Billups, who just went to the Hall of Fame. When you look at a guy like Rajon Rondo, who might be knocking on the door when it comes to the Hall of Fame, that’s where I put CP3 at."
Unlike Paul, Chauncey Billups and Rajon Rondo are both NBA champions, with Billups having a Finals MVP to his name.
They were both phenomenal point guards throughout their careers, and the current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers was a deserved, recent inclusion into Springfield.
It is borderline impossible to make the argument that those two had anywhere near the career Chris Paul has had. CP3 is called The Point God for a reason, and Perkins definitely went over his skis with that take.