End Of An Era: Chris Paul Announces That Next Season Will Most Likely Be His Last

You know what really made me feel old the other day? Here I was, minding my own business, enjoying the nice holiday weekend, and this clip came across my desk
Jameer Nelson….Jr??!? What fucking year is it? How old are we if I'm now watching the son of Jameer Nelson throw down Summer League Dunks? This is the part of sports that will always weird me out as I get older, and it's the reminder that none of us asked for that we're all getting old as shit.
They say Father Time is undefeated, and in the NBA that means we're inching closer and closer to the end of an era. Guys like LeBron, KD, Steph, Horford, Harden, Westbrook etc, legends of the game who will eventually find themselves in the HOF are all on the back end of their careers. Some guys have a handful of years left, but we all know the end is near. It's going to be weird as hell to see a version of the NBA that doesn't include those players, even if the next era of stars seems more than ready to take over. Those were the legends that we grew up watching, they helped shape the league we know and love.
But eventually, they too must ride off into the sunset. And while we may not know when that time will be for some on that list, we do know that for a legend of the previous era like Chris Paul, that time will come after the 2025-26 season.
Let's be pretty clear about something when it comes to this version of CP3. Sure, it's true that he turned 40 this past Spring, but in terms of a productive basketball player? Chris Paul is very much still a productive basketball player. He's coming off a season in which he just played all 82 games for the Spurs, averaging over 28 minutes a night while starting every single game, and his on the court production was more than acceptable at 8.8/3.6/7.4 on 42/37% splits. If you're a team that needs point guard help, CP3 can absolutely still give you rotation-quality minutes, even in 2025-26
Knowing that you would only really have to spend the minimum to bring him in? If you're a team out there right now who needs help at that position, I see no reason not to kick the tires on CP3. The question then becomes, who will that team be?
The Clippers were rumored to be interested, and I could see a return there as a backup guard to Harden. Kris Dunn is their only reserve point guard, and he isn't exactly the type of table setter that CP3 is, so that gives you a different skillset for those minutes. If you buy into the rumors that CP3 wants to remain a starter while also being close to LA, that really only leaves a team like the Suns. At the moment, they do not employ a starting point guard. Sure, Devin Booker has shown that he can run the offense when needed, and we've seen Bradley Beal be a play initiator at times, but the only point guard on their roster at the moment is Collin Gillespie. They're already a 2nd apron team, so they'll have to bring him in on the minimum, but at least there's a positional need in PHX, and there should be some familiarity there as well.
The larger point is more that this is essentially Chris Paul's farewell tour season. I'm not sure if this is controversial to suggest, but whether he ever wins a ring or not, Chris Paul is going to go down as one of the best point guards in the history of the NBA. The resume speaks for itself
- 12x All Star
- 11x All NBA
- 6x Steals champ
- 9x All Defense
- 5x Assist champ
- ROY
- All Star MVP
- Top 75 Team Member
- 20,000 Point member (23,011)
- 2nd all time in AST (12,499)
- 2nd all time in STL (2,717)
There's a reason he's called The Point God, and it's not because he stunk at the position. Is he the perfect player? Heavens no, but who is?
Sadly, I would not expect the Clippers or the Suns to win the 2026 NBA title, so it does feel like CP3 will finish his career without ever reaching the top of the mountain. That sucks, but he's certainly not alone in that regard when talking about the legends of the game. Plenty of all-time players never got to that mountain top, it doesn't mean they weren't all-time great players. Shit, the only player with more AST and STL's than CP3 is John Stockton and he didn't win a ring either. That's just how things go sometimes.
Easily one of the best players of my generation, it'll be a sad day when CP3 finally hangs it up at the end of next year. It really makes you appreciate just how insane it is in terms of the types of legendary players we were thankfully around to witness. I'm talking about some of the best players the game has ever seen are coming from "our" era, and that's pretty cool. Makes me feel old as absolute fuck, but still cool that we can say we saw all these guys play in their primes.