After a long 16 seasons, Chris Paul finally surpassed idol Steve Nash to make it to the top three in the NBA's all-time assists list.
On Nov. 3, Paul led the Suns in a 112-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. It was a big 20-point reversal, but the whole talk of the night was all about Paul. He scored 14 points, 18 assists and seven rebounds, allowing him to overtake Mark Jackson and Nash in a single day and move from fifth on the all-time assists list to third.
Just three weeks before the start of the NBA's 2021-22 season, Paul has already reached multiple milestones. First, he was named one of the NBA's 76 greatest stars in 75 years, with only 11 active players selected. A few days later, during the Suns' game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 11-time All-Star guard became the only player in NBA history to score more than 20,000 points and assist more than 10,000 times.
Prior to this game, Paul was only six points away from Mark Jackson's career total assists. In Paul's mind he probably knew that the evening was his record night. In the first quarter, Paul delivered 7 assists to complete the overtaking of Jackson.
But the Suns' overall offense wasn't optimistic. At 6:14 in the second quarter, the Pelicans led the Suns by 20 points, the biggest point difference in the game. With 1:37 left in the second quarter, the Suns trailed the Pelicans 45-55 and Paul crossed Jay Crowder to hit a big open three-pointer. It was his 8th assist and his 10,336th career assist. In front of him were only John Stockton (15,806) and Jason Kidd (12,091).
The "point guard god" probably didn't want a night of such historic significance to turn into an embarrassing failure. Especially against his current Pelicans coach and his former teammate Willie Green.
In the final quarter he turned on offensive mode, scoring a total of 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting from mid-range. Although Paul didn't seem to score many points and scored 14 points, he delivered 10 assists in the second half, six of which were in the fourth quarter. It was under Paul's needle-piercing that the Suns hit an offensive climax of 36-18 in a single quarter. Of those 36 points, 25 were related to Paul.
This offseason, the Suns offered Paul a four-year, $120 million contract, and many people were talking about the Suns being unwise. After these games in the new season, it is still obvious that Paul is important to the Suns.
More than two years ago, Paul was still playing under D'Antoni. At that time, Paul's maximum salary was considered a "garbage contract" in the league's top salary contract. However, head coach D'Antoni is optimistic about Paul's future.
D'Antoni replied, "Because I've seen Nash do the same thing." ”
Dallas had given up nash because he thought he couldn't do it, but the Lone Ranger's management underestimated Nash's mind. They don't know how much he wants to do it, and they don't know how much he's willing to sacrifice his life to be prepared to do it. As long as Paul had the same mentality, he would be as great as the top defenders in history. ”
This season, Paul is at the top of the league with 11.8 assists per game and 2.4 times ahead of second-place Trae Young. At this point, the old cannon is also one of the top point guards in the league.
From New Orleans to Phoenix, Monty and Willie Green witnessed one moment after another in Paul's history. Suns coach Monty Williams lamented after the game, "When the team traded for Paul, I didn't pay attention to these things, we didn't care about the data, the records and so on. But I am very happy today and honored to witness this historic moment on the spot. ”
When he was selected by the New Orleans Hornets with the fourth overall pick, he must not have imagined that he would be wearing a Phoenix Suns jersey when he achieved this achievement, and that he was in front of the team that selected him.
Let's pull back the clock to 2008. Two days before the playoffs that year, Paul, 22, was partying with his teammates in the ballroom of a hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter. They are celebrating the season with 56 wins and conceiving plans for the next race. Players next to their wives or girlfriends, everyone was encouraged to stand up and speak. Paul brought his girlfriend, Jada Clare at Wake Forest University, and he said a lot about it. Veteran Morris Peterson said the longest, "Cherish this team, you might think I'm going to be here all the time and there's always going to be a shooting opportunity, but I've been in the NBA for a long time, we get hurt a lot, there's going to be trades, and you don't know if you'll be in this position in the future." ”
Paul, a third-year student, was staring at Peterson, thinking he would win MVP in two weeks and then win the series again. Every year I have this opportunity. Paul definitely deserves that confidence, he's steve Nash's successor, who has been eager to be that kind of player since he entered the league, and he lost sleep all night before the game against the Suns at the beginning of the season. He was eager for more opportunities to perform in that game, but Coach Byron Scott began giving him a break in the fourth quarter, while D'Antoni used Nash to build a 14-point lead with his "7 seconds or less" pace of play. Paul was furious, but 22 months later, the Hornets were on their way and the Suns stagnated as Nash's form declined.
"I'm Steve now," Paul told himself, "only the craziest Delon Williams fans would argue about that." ”
In 2010, Paul's final season at the Hornets, when he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, and although he returned to the court after surgery, he continued to fight. But it was clear that the injury deprived him of the physical fitness of howard, who had once been a "monster", and without the acceleration of the first step of the wind, Paul paid more attention to the rhythm change and change of hands in the pass. This change slowed him down and made him play longer.
Speaking about New Orleans in a post-match interview, Paul said: "It's fantastic, my family is here. Against New Orleans, that's where I started everything. For me, this city will always be my home. ”
In six seasons for the New Orleans Hornets, Paul delivered 4,288 assists, and in 2007-08 and 2008-09, he became the league's assist king. He then moved to the Los Angeles Clippers. In his six seasons with the Clippers, he contributed a total of 4,023 assists and was twice voted the assist king.
Paul's personal data and accolades continued to accumulate, yet he and his team failed to make it any further in the playoffs. No matter how strong the Clippers are in the regular season, the bad luck in the playoffs will always find them. In the 2012-13 season, the Clippers were reversed with a 2-0 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies. Paul injured his left thumb in the fifth game and Griffin injured his ankle. In the 2014-15 season, Paul defeated defending champion San Antonio Spurs, but also strained his left leg.
"I know he played with an injury and played the whole game." Paul's senior, Tim Duncan, said.
In the 2015-16 season, Paul injured his right hand in game three of the series against the Portland Trail Blazers. Eventually, a fracture of the metacarpal bone of the right hand was detected, and the season was reimbursed. Another year later, the Clippers suffered another injury, this time it was Griffin's turn. The Clippers lost to the Jazz in seven games and once again missed the Western Conference Finals. It wasn't until the rockets moved that he touched the Western Conference floor for the first time, and then his thigh was strained again at a crucial moment in the game against the Warriors.
"I'm grateful and thankful to God for giving me this opportunity," Paul said after the game. "I've been saying this, not only to be grateful for still playing for a team or still playing in the league, but also to be able to continue playing. You don't take it for granted. ”
When I look back, I believe that Paul's words must have come from the bottom of my heart.
Paul, 36, admits he's unlikely to top the list, though.
"When I first came to the league, I looked at John Stockton and thought ' I'm going to get there.' It all started then. Paul said.
Then Paul smiled and said, "But I'm already grateful to be able to finish third and still be able to play, and I still have a long way to go." ”
Last season, Paul led the Suns to a historic finals and touched the finals floor for the first time in his career. For the Suns, even if they didn't win the championship, they made a major breakthrough. Paul and Coach Monti have brought the team together into a big family of unity, and general manager James Jones has said, "They are all willing to listen to Paul." We believe in Paul, and Paul is enjoying this responsibility and responsibility. So when they saw Paul achieve his achievements, the teammates were even happier than Paul himself.
"We've always wanted to act like we normally would," Suns guard Devin Booker said of Paul's achievements. "When we walked into the dressing room, we all shouted 'Wow, he overtook Steve Nash and Mark Jackson.' That's great. I'm excited to be a part of it. ”
Although Paul is still a big gap from Stockton, there is still hope for surpassing Kidd. Last season, he averaged 8.9 assists per game in the regular season. If you estimate it at 9 assists per season, in about three seasons, Paul can climb to the second place in the all-time assist list.
Paul has indeed reached the final stages of his career, and his historical standing will continue to be raised as he reaches one milestone after another. Fans and the media will eventually begin to realize that Paul is indeed one of the best point guards of all time. Fate has made so many jokes with Paul, let him experience so many failures, but Paul is persistent and tenacious, relying on nothing and striving to strengthen himself, is this also another realm of "point guard gods"?