Chris Paul
From Hoopedia
 Paul playing for the Clippers. | |
| No. 3 - Los Angeles Clippers | |
|---|---|
| Point guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: May 6, 1985 Winston-Salen, North Carolina | |
Nationality:  American
| |
| Height: 6 ft 0 in | Weight: 175 lbs |
| Career information | |
| College: Wake Forest | |
| NBA Draft: 2005; Round: 1 / Pick: 4th Selected by the New Orleans Hornets | |
| Pro career: 2005-present | |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Info Page | |
Christopher Emmanuel "Chris" Paul (born May 6, 1985, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) is an American professional basketball player who plays at point guard in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers.
Contents |
High School
Paul played at West Forsyth High School, where he was a 2003 McDonald's All American and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball for 2003 by the Charlotte Observer. Paul averaged 30.8 points, 8.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 steals per game as a senior in leading his team to a 27-3 record and the Class 4A Eastern Regional finals. In a high school game, Paul scored 61 points in honor of his grandfather, who in 2002 was beaten to death in his own carport during a robbery -- one point for every year his grandfather lived.
College
Paul attended Wake Forest University from 2003–2005, and played under coach Skip Prosser. Paul was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year for the 2003-04 season. He was named the 2004-05 ACC Preseason Player of the Year and Associated Press Preseason National Player of the Year, and was a consensus first-team All-American in 2005. While at Wake Forest, he tallied career totals of 948 points, 395 assists, and 160 steals.
Paul owns the all-time ACC record for freshman season steals with 84, surpassing Duke's Jason Williams' 81 in 1999-00. One of Wake's best freshmen in history, lists No. 1 among all-time Wake freshmen season leaders in steals, assists (183), three-point field goal percentage (.465) and free throw percentage (.843), ranks third in both points (460) and scoring average (14.8 ppg.) He ranked third among all-time Wake single season steals leaders, fourth in three-point field goal percentage, fifth in assists and 15th in free throw percentage.
Paul was suspended in March of 2005 for one game for throwing a punch at North Carolina State's Julius Hodge that landed below the belt in the first half of a game in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Professional
Paul was selected fourth overall by the New Orleans Hornets in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft. In his first season, he led all rookies in points, assists, steals, and minutes, garnering him the 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He was also the only unanimous selection to the 2005-06 NBA All Rookie First Team and was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month every month in the 2005-06 season. After the season, Paul won the ESPY Award for Best Breakthrough Athlete. Chris Paul recorded his first triple-double on April 2, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists. He has currently recorded 3 career triple-doubles and is averaging 16.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 2.1 steals after 105 career games with the New Orleans Hornets. He was named to replace Steve Nash in the 2007 Playstation Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend. On February 16, 2007, he played in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and dished out 17 assists and 9 steals, both T-Mobile Rookie Challenge records.
In the 2006-07 season, he averaged 17.3 ppg, 8.9 assists per game, and 1.8 steals per game.
Paul finished 2nd in MVP voting in 2007-08, behind Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Paul recently agreed to a 3 year, 67 million dollar contract extension with a player option in the 4th year, ensuring he will be a Hornet at least the next 4 years.
On December 17, 2008 Chris Paul stole an attempted pass from San Antonio's Tony Parker setting the new record for consecutive games with a steal at 106 consecutive games, breaking the old record previously held by Alvin Robertson.
All-Star Weekend
During the 2007 Las Vegas NBA All-Star Weekend, Paul set two Rookie Challenge records by recording 17 assists (11 of them were registered in 11 minutes off the bench) to go along with 9 steals (he also recorded 16 points in the same game). He has also played in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Skills Challenge. The first time getting a time of 42.6. He would be eliminated in the 1st round along with 2005 Skills Challenge Champion Steve Nash. The next year, Chris Paul had gotten his time lower to a 39.6: still, he was eliminated in the 1st round along with LeBron James. Currently this year, Chris Paul had overcame his elimination by going to the last round facing Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. Chris Paul had a time of 31.2 in the final round of the Skills Challenge. Still, it was not good enough to beat the Utah Jazz player, Deron Williams, who had timed for getting a 25.5.
International
Paul has earned 10 caps for various junior national teams. Paul made his debut for the United States national basketball team debut on August 4, 2006 in a friendly against Puerto Rico. Paul made the final cut and remained on the Team USA roster for the 2006 FIBA World Championship. USA finished with an 8-1 record and defeated 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Argentina for a third place finish. Chris Paul set a Team USA World Championship assist record with 44 assists, to go along with 17 steals and only 9 turnovers.
Paul played as the back up to Jason Kidd on the USA national team (dubbed the Redeem Team) that won the gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Awards and honors
- NBA All-Star: 2008, 2009
- All-NBA Team:
- First Team: 2008
- Second Team: 2009
- First Team: 2009
- Second Team: 2008
- NBA Rookie of the Year: 2006
- NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2006
- Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship
- Notched second place on ESPN's greatest player of the 2007–2008 regular season :
- Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Olympics
- 108 consecutive games with at least one steal, most in NBA history 12-23-2008
- Led the NBA in assists twice (925 in 2007-08, and 925 in 2008-09)
- Led the NBA in steals thrice (175 in 2005-06, 217 in 2007-08, and 216 in 2008-09)
- Led the NBA in Assists per Game twice (11.6 in 2007-08, and 11.0 in 2008-09)
- Led the NBA in Steals per Game twice (2.7 in 2007-08, and 2.8 in 2008-09)
NBA career statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Led League |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | NO/Oklahoma City | 78 | 78 | 36.0 | .430 | .282 | .847 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 2.2 | .1 | 16.1 |
| 2006–07 | NO/Oklahoma City | 64 | 64 | 36.8 | .437 | .350 | .818 | 4.4 | 8.9 | 1.8 | .1 | 17.3 |
| 2007–08 | New Orleans | 80 | 80 | 37.6 | .488 | .369 | .851 | 4.0 | 11.6 | 2.7 | .1 | 21.1 |
| 2008–09 | New Orleans | 78 | 78 | 38.5 | .503 | .364 | .868 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 2.8 | .1 | 22.8 |
| Career | 300 | 300 | 37.2 | .470 | .344 | .849 | 4.8 | 9.9 | 2.4 | .0 | 19.4 | |
| All-Star | 2 | 1 | 28.5 | .500 | .286 | .000 | 5.0 | 14.0 | 3.5 | .0 | 15.0 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | New Orleans | 12 | 12 | 40.5 | .502 | .238 | .785 | 4.9 | 11.3 | 2.3 | .2 | 24.1 |
| 2008–09 | New Orleans | 5 | 5 | 40.2 | .411 | .313 | .857 | 4.4 | 10.4 | 1.6 | .0 | 16.6 |
| Career | 17 | 17 | 40.4 | .480 | .270 | .800 | 4.8 | 11.0 | 2.1 | .1 | 21.9 |
Trivia
- He recently signed on to the famous Air Jordan brand, which is a subsidiary of Nike. The shoe label is headed by Michael Jordan and features prominent athletes from several different sports.
- He is nicknamed CP3, as Chris is the third person in his immediate family with the initials "CP". His jersey number is also 3.
- He is a big fan of the NFL's Carolina Panthers and the Chicago Bulls.
- He has been compared to a young Isiah Thomas.
- He lists his heroes as the NBA legends, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson.
- In February 2007, he appeared in an ESPN This is SportsCenter commercial as the manservant of Stuart Scott because of his "Rookie of the Year" status.
- He is an avid bowler who recently entered into a partnership with the U.S. Bowling Congress.
- He finished 2nd behind NBA Superstar Kobe Bryant in the MVP Candidates during the 2007-2008 Season.
- He was on the cover of 2K Sport's "NBA 2K8".
External Links
Categories: NBA Players | College Players (Men) | High School Players (Boys) | International Players (Men) | New Orleans Hornets | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | McDonald's All Americans | Men's Olympic Gold Medalists | Men's FIBA World Championship Bronze Medalists | Players Who Made An ABA/NBA All Star Game | Players Who Made An NBA All Star Game
