Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985) is an
American professional
basketball point guard for the
Los Angeles Clippers.
Paul was born and raised in
North Carolina. Despite only playing two varsity basketball seasons in high school, he was a
McDonald's All-American and accepted a scholarship with nearby
Wake Forest University. After his sophomore year with the
Demon Deacons, he declared for the draft. Since being selected 4th overall in the
2005 NBA Draft by the
New Orleans Hornets, Paul has been a
NBA Rookie of the Year (2006), a five-time
All-Star, and a multiple
All-NBA and
All-Defensive team honoree. He led the Hornets to the second round of the
2008 NBA Playoffs. He has also won an
Olympic Gold Medal with the
United States national basketball team.
Off the court, Paul is a notable ten-pin bowler and a sponsored spokesperson for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC). He has participated in numerous celebrity and youth bowling events as the head of the CP3 Foundation to benefit programs in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, and charities in Winston-Salem.
Early years
Chris Paul was born in Lewisville, North Carolina in 1985 as the second son of Charles Edward Paul and Robin Jones, two years after Charles "C.J." Paul in 1983. Charles and Robin were childhood friends who grew up in Winston-Salem and were members of Dreamland Park Baptist before marrying in 1982. A former athlete himself, Charles taught his sons the games of basketball and football and coached them in various youth events throughout their childhood. Paul was a gifted athlete, going to the national Pop Warner football championships as a quarterback and linebacker on the Lewisville Titans Junior Pee Wee team, and winning several 14U AAU national tournaments in basketball.
Besides athletics, the Paul brothers spent their summers operating the cash register, rotating tires and changing air filters at Jones Chevron, a service station owned by their grandfather Nathanial Jones on their mother Robin's side. Affectionately known as "Papa Chili" throughout the community, Jones had operated the station, Jones had operated the first such African-American-operated service station in North Carolina since 1964 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Paul describes his grandfather as "his best friend" and credits many life lessons to him.
High school
In 1999, Paul began attending
West Forsyth High School in
Clemmons, North Carolina, where C.J. was already a star junior at point guard. Despite Paul's talent, he was at a significant disadvantage due to his stature. Paul opted to play on the JV basketball team his freshman and sophomore years, believing that the opportunity to gain confidence and experience on the JV would be more beneficial than sitting on the bench on varsity. Meanwhile, Paul grew to by his sophomore year.
By the time Paul had ascended to the varsity squad as a junior, C.J. had graduated. The Paul brothers only ended up playing on the court for 15 seconds together at the end of a playoff game in Paul's sophomore year and C.J.'s senior year in 2001. Paul, who spurted another eight inches to , posted 25.0 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 steals per game to help West Forsyth (26–4) reach the state semifinals. Over the next summer, Paul emerged as a heavily recruited point guard. With his family watching, Paul signed his letter of intent to Wake Forest to play for coach Skip Prosser before his senior year. Only 13 miles away from where he grew up in Lewisville, Paul had already verbally committed to them during his junior year and attended many Demon Deacons practices and games.
Tragically, only a day after signing his letter of intent, the corpse of Nathanial Jones was discovered by Paul's father. Jones died after being beaten and robbed by a group of teens as he unloaded groceries from his car in his driveway. Five teenagers tied Jones’ hands behind his back, taped his mouth, and beat him around the head and face. Jones, who had a history of heart trouble, lay in his carport and died from cardiac arhythmia. He was 61. Over 2,000 people honored the memories of Jones at his funeral four days later. The next day, fueled by the suggestion of an aunt, an emotionally devastated Paul scored 61 points in honor of his grandfather, one point for every year his grandfather lived, in West Forsyth's 2002–03 season opener.
Despite Paul's previous career high being 39 points, by halftime, he had racked up 32 points in 16 minutes. When Paul reached the 61-point mark late in the 4th quarter, he purposely airballed a free throw, then took himself out of the game to hug his family on the sidelines, even though the state high school scoring record of 66 points was well within reach. In 2003, Paul averaged 30.8 points, 9.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.0 steals per game the remainder of his senior year and led his team to a 27–3 record and the Class 4A Eastern Regional finals. He was a 2003 McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic participant and was named North Carolina's Mr. Basketball for 2003 by ''The Charlotte Observer''.
Summer circuit
Though he did not win a state championship while in high school, Paul did take the Winston-Salem-based
Kappa Magic (alongside future
University of North Carolina rival
Reyshawn Terry), to the 2002 National U-17 AAU Championship over an All-Ohio team led by 2003 McDonald's All-American Drew Lavender, taking home the tournament's MVP award in the process.
College career
Paul attended
Wake Forest University and played for the Demon Deacons for two seasons, leading the school to two NCAA Tournaments, and one
Sweet Sixteen appearance. In Paul's freshman year, he started and made an immediate impact. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Year, Third Team All-ACC, an All-American Honorable Mention, and National Freshman of the Year by several publications as averaged 14.8 points and 5.9 assists a game and helped the Demon Deacons reach the Sweet Sixteen of the
2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament before losing to
St. Joseph's. Paul also broke five Wake Forest freshman records, three-point percentage, free throws, free throw percentage, assists and steals.
Paul also earned ACC All-Defensive Team honors during his time at Wake and was among the Consensus First Team All-Americans in his sophomore year. He was also a named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team with a 3.21 Grade point average as a third-term selection. During the ACC post season tournament, Paul was suspended one game for punching NC State guard Julius Hodge in the groin. By the time he declared for the 2005 NBA Draft as a sophomore, he had finished near the top of almost every offensive category at Wake Forest.
After his sophomore year, Paul declared for the 2005 NBA Draft. The Demon Deacons went 48–16 (.750) in games Chris Paul played in. Paul was ranked second among Wake Forest's all-time career leaders for 3-point shooting percentage (.469), and 7th in assists and steals.
NBA career
New Orleans Hornets
2005–06: Rookie stardom
Paul was selected fourth overall by the
New Orleans Hornets in the first round of the
2005 NBA Draft. Due to the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina that summer to the city of New Orleans, Paul did not play his first full season in New Orleans. Instead, the team played in various arenas and relocated to
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. The Hornets only played three games in
New Orleans Arena.
Paul led all rookies in points, assists, steals, and minutes, earning him the 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Paul was a near-unanimous winner for the award, but one voter (Ron Boone, television analyst for the Utah Jazz) gave Deron Williams his vote instead of Paul. This, along with the fact that both were taken back to back in the draft and play the same position, has led to an on-court rivalry between Paul and Williams. Their rivalry began on December 1, 2004 when Paul led his No. 1-ranked Wake Forest into Champaign to face Williams' Illini. Illinois thrashed the Demon Deacons 91–73 and took the top spot from there into their run to the 2005 NCAA Championship Game. Williams had 8 points and 11 assists while Paul was held to 10 points.
Paul finished the 2005–06 season averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds. 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. He recorded his first triple-double on April 2, 2006 against the Toronto Raptors with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists.
2006–07 season
Paul followed up his impressive rookie campaign with a solid sophomore season. He improved his scoring average to 17.3 points, and improved his assists average with 8.9 per game. He averaged 4.4 rebounds per game. Paul's season was riddled with injuries though, as he was limited to playing in only 64 games.
Paul was not named an All-Star in 2007, but he was named to replace Steve Nash in the 2007 PlayStation Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend. He played in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and dished out 17 assists and had 9 steals, both T-Mobile Rookie Challenge records. When interviewed during the Rookie Challenge, Paul vowed that he would be an All-Star next season, as the All-Star Game would be held in New Orleans.
2007–08 season
The
2007–08 season brought the full return of the Hornets to the city of New Orleans. Emerging as a true superstar, Paul averaged 21.1 points and 4 rebounds, and led the NBA in steals with 2.71 per game and assists with 11.6 per game. He was selected by NBA coaches to play in the
2008 NBA All-Star Game which was hosted by the city of New Orleans, thereby fulfilling his vow from the previous season. Paul's teammate
David West was named as an All-Star reserve and Hornets coach
Byron Scott coached the Western Conference All-Stars.
During
All-Star Weekend, Paul participated again in the 2008 All-Star PlayStation Skills Challenge winning the first round but losing in the final round to
Deron Williams. Paul sparked a 4th quarter comeback for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game, but the East held on to win 134–128. He finished the game with 16 points, 14 assists and 5 steals.
Paul continued his stellar play following the All Star game, leading the New Orleans Hornets to one of the best records in the West. After a 37 point, 13 assist, and 3 steal performance by Paul against the Chicago Bulls on March 17, 2008, Paul led a 4th quarter comeback win, the Hornets ascended to the top of the standings in the Western Conference. On April 4, 2008, Chris Paul helped the Hornets clinch a playoff spot for the first time since the 2003–04 season. The Hornets ultimately finished the season with a 56–26 record, the best record in team history, and finished #2 overall in the NBA Western Conference standings. Paul ended the season leading the NBA with 11.6 assists and 2.71 steals per game, and registered a steal in all 80 games he played in.
In Paul's first NBA playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks, he scored 35 points, with 24 coming in the second half, along with 10 assists and 4 steals. In Game 2, he scored 32 points and set a franchise playoff-record 17 assists, leading the Hornets to a 127–103 victory to go 2–0 against Dallas. After splitting Games 3 and 4 in Dallas, the Hornets eliminated the Mavericks, 4–1, in Game 5 for their first ever playoff series victory behind a 24 point, 11 rebound, and 15 assist performance from Paul.
He finished second in MVP voting, behind Kobe Bryant, who beat him with a margin of 306 votes. He was selected for the All-NBA First Team, 3 votes shy of a unanimous choice.
Paul reached an agreement on a three-year extension with the Hornets with a player option with a fourth year, with a total value of $68 million.
2008–09 season
For the second season in a row Paul finished the season as the league leader in assists and steals. He also scored a career best 22.8 points per game on a career best percentage of 50.3%. Paul participated in his second NBA All Star Game starting for the Western Conference All Stars.
On December 17, 2008, against the
San Antonio Spurs, Paul broke
Alvin Robertson's 22-year-old NBA record by registering at least one steal in 106 consecutive games. The new record reached 108 consecutive games before ending on Christmas Day against the
Orlando Magic. On December 26, Paul collected 27 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists and seven steals against the
Philadelphia 76ers, becoming the only player in NBA history to reach those statistical numbers in an NBA game.
After the season, Paul was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team first team, and the All-NBA second team. He was also fifth in the 2009 MVP voting, receiving two first place votes and a total of 192 points.
2009–10 season
After a 3–6 start to the season, the New Orleans Hornets fired Scott on November 12 and replaced him with general manager
Jeff Bower, who has been involved with the franchise since 1995. Paul stirred controversy by announcing his displeasure with the move and thought the team management should have "consulted with me and asked how I felt before it happened", but clarified that he didn't expect to be asked to give approval. The next day, Paul suffered a
left ankle sprain against the
Portland Trail Blazers that resulted in eight missed games as the Hornets went 4–4. Once Paul returned on December 9, New Orleans won 18 of their next 28 games, including a six-game winning streak. He earned his third All-Star appearance as a reserve guard, finishing third with 1,055,789 votes behind
Kobe Bryant and
Steve Nash.
In early February, an
MRI revealed a
torn meniscus in Paul's left knee after it was tweaked in two consecutive games in late January. On February 4, he underwent
arthroscopic surgery performed by renowned sports physician
James Andrew in Florida. Sidelined for nearly eight weeks, Paul, who was averaging 20.4 points and an NBA-best 11.2 assists, missed 25 Hornets games and the
2010 NBA All-Star Game, where his reserve spot was filled by
Denver Nuggets point guard
Chauncey Billups. On March 22, Paul returned to action since January 29 against the
Chicago Bulls, and was inserted in the starting lineup for the game against the Dallas Mavericks, moving
Darren Collison out of the starting lineup, who started at point guard during Paul's absence.
2010–11 season
The 2010–11 season was another All-Star selection season for Paul, making it his 4th consecutive. On March 6, 2011 against the
Cleveland Cavaliers, Paul collided with Cavalier player
Ramon Sessions and had to be carried off by stretcher after lying motionless on the ground. He missed 2 straight games. In his return on March 12, 2011 against the
Sacramento Kings, he scored a season high 33 points, and had 15 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals in the Hornets' 37th win of the season.
The Hornets finished the year with 46 wins to qualify as the seventh seed in the playoffs, where they would meet the defending two-time NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Paul had a historic performance in the series, averaging 22 points on 54.5 percent shooting, 11.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 6.7 rebounds per game, though the Hornets fell to the heavily favored Lakers in six games. Notable performances from Paul included a game 1 win in LA, where he had 33 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals, and a game 4 win in New Orleans, where Paul had 27 points, 15 assists, 13 rebounds and 2 steals.
2011 offseason
Once the NBA resumed operations after the
2011 lockout, the Hornets, now owned by the NBA after acquiring the financially strapped team from
George Shinn during the 2010–11 season, actively pursued trading Paul. He would be eligible to opt-out of his contract and sign elsewhere following the
2011–12 season. As a result, the Hornets did not want to risk losing Paul without getting equitable compensation in return. On the afternoon of December 8, 2011, the day before the
2011 NBA lockout ended and players could move between teams, the Hornets, the
Los Angeles Lakers and the
Houston Rockets agreed to a trade that would send Paul to the Lakers. That night, after other team owners voiced their opposition, league commissioner
David Stern nullified the trade. Following a week of contentious trade talks with various teams, Paul was eventually traded to Los Angeles, but this time, to the Clippers rather than the Lakers.
Los Angeles Clippers
2011–12 season
On December 8, 2011, the
New Orleans Hornets, the
Los Angeles Lakers and the
Houston Rockets agreed to a trade that would send Paul to Los Angeles. NBA commissioner
David Stern nullified the trade, saying the Hornets were better off keeping Paul than accepting the terms of the deal. The league had acquired the Hornets from former owner
George Shinn, and the commissioner's office has final authority over all management decisions. The three teams involved in the trade attempted to lobby the league to reverse its ruling as well as reconstruct the deal that would satisfy the league, only to met by resistance from the league who wants the Hornets to receive more youth and draft picks. Later, the Lakers pulled out of the trade talk. On December 12, the Hornets and the
Los Angeles Clippers agreed to a trade that sent Paul to Los Angeles for
Chris Kaman,
Eric Bledsoe and
Al-Farouq Aminu, but the Clippers pulled out of the talks after the Hornets asked, at the league's direction, to also include
Eric Gordon and the
Minnesota Timberwolves' first round pick in the
2012 draft. Two days later, on December 14, the two teams finally made the trade, sending Paul and two future second round draft picks to the Clippers for Gordon, rather than Bledsoe, as well as Kaman, Aminu, and the Minnesota Timberwolves' unprotected first round pick in the 2012 draft. Following the trade, Paul promised to "opt-in" to the final year of his contract, essentially guaranteeing he would be a member of the Clippers for at least two seasons, and implied he would like to remain in Los Angeles long term.
In his first regular season game as a Los Angeles Clipper, Paul recorded 20 points, 2 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals in a 105–86 win over the Golden State Warriors. He was selected as a starter for the 2012 All-Star Game.
Off the court
Personal life
Paul married Jada Crawley on September 10, 2011. The two met and began dating in 2003 while attending Wake Forest together. They had their first child together, Christopher Emmanuel Paul II, on May 23, 2009.
Paul's brother, C.J. played basketball at Hampton University on a scholarship after graduating from West Forsyth in 2001, before transferring to University of South Carolina Upstate (USC-Upstate) to finish out his career. In 2004, the Paul brothers played against each other in a college game as Wake Forest participated in a preseason exhibition with USC-Upstate. C.J. now works as his brother's personal manager.
Paul still grasps the laminated obituaries of his grandfather, who died in 2002, and grandmother, who died in 1993, and says a prayer during the national anthem before each game.
Paul and former New Orleans Saints and current Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush are close friends and lived in the same complex in the Central Business District of New Orleans while Bush was a Saint. They also shared a personal chef.
During the second season of ESPN's ''It's the Shoes'', Paul revealed to Bobbito Garcia that the "CP3" nickname came from family tradition. The combination of his initials and jersey number is strictly a coincidence. His father (Charles Paul) and older brother (C.J. Paul) are nicknamed CP1 and CP2, respectively. Paul also notes that all three men's initials are CEP."
Whenever Paul scored during a Hornets home game the PA Announcer would simply say "CP3!" and then play a sound byte of legendary pro wrestler Ric Flair's famous "Wooooo!" quote. Flair, who is an avid Hornets fan and whose loyalty stuck with the team even after they relocated from Charlotte to New Orleans, attended every Hornets home game in their 2008 Western Conference Semi-Final Series against the San Antonio Spurs and introduced the starting lineups at a home game against the Golden State Warriors. In 2008, Paul appeared on the NPR news quiz show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!," where he went three-for-three in the "Not My Job" game.
Rupert Bell Rec, a domed court used by the Paul brothers during their childhood, was featured in the 2007 videogame ''NBA Street Homecourt''. On November 1, 2011, Chris appeared with his family on the game show ''Family Feud'', hosted by Steve Harvey.
Endorsements
Paul has national endorsement deals with
PowerAde sports drinks,
Right Guard deodorant and
Nike's
Team Jordan brand, where he has released several editions of his shoe "Air Jordan CP3.#". He also has several partner brands and organizations which includes
Topps,
Fox 8,
Upper Deck, and
Vitamin Water. The deals collectively earn him around $4 million annually according to ''
Forbes''. In 2007, Paul was the cover athlete for the video game ''
NBA 2K8''.
Paul has been represented by agents Jeff Austin and Leon Rose under the agencies LRMR Marketing and Creative Artists Agency since 2010. Paul had been affiliated with Octagon Worldwide.
Salaries
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Season!!Team!!Salary
|-
|
2005–06||
New Orleans Hornets
||$3,144,240
|-
|
2006–07||New Orleans||$3,380,160
|-
|
2007–08||New Orleans||$3,615,960
|-
|
2008–09||New Orleans||$4,574,189
|-
|
2009–10||New Orleans||$13,520,500
|-
|
2010–11||New Orleans||$14,940,153
|-
|
2011–12||
Los Angeles Clippers||$16,359,805
|}
Awards and honors
5× NBA All-Star: 2008–12
3× All-NBA Team:
*First Team: 2008
*Second Team: 2009
*Third Team: 2011
2× NBA All-Defensive Team:
*First Team: 2009
*Second Team: 2008, 2011
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2006
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2006
Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship
Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games
NBA records
Consecutive games with a steal: 108, to
Fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in assists and steals in the same season
Don "Slick" Watts (Seattle SuperSonics, ), Don Buse (Indiana Pacers, ), Micheal Ray Richardson (New York Knicks, ), and John Stockton (Utah Jazz, , ) also achieved this.
Only player in NBA history to lead the league in assists and steals in consecutive seasons (–)
Seasons leading the league in steals: 4 (, , , )
2nd in NBA history
Steals, half: 7, first half, vs. Dallas Mavericks,
Most games with at least one steal, season: 80 ()
Recorded a steal in every game in which he played.
Alvin Robertson recorded a steal in 81 of 82 games played in , the NBA record.
Tied with
Michael Jordan (80 games with at least one steal in )
3rd in NBA history
Highest average, assists per game, career: 9.9 (4,228/425)
Trailing Earvin "Magic" Johnson and John Stockton
New Orleans Hornets records
Regular season
Free throws made, career: 1,971
Highest average, assists per game, career: 9.9 (4,228/425)
Assists, season: 925 () (11.6 apg)
Assists, game: 21, at Los Angeles Lakers,
Assists, half: 14, second half, at Los Angeles Lakers,
Games with 10 or more assists, season: 59 ()
Point-assist double-doubles, career: 150
Point-assist double-doubles, season: 56 ()
Consecutive games with a point-assist double-double: 8, twice
8, to
8, to
Triple-doubles, career: 11
Triple-doubles, season: 6 ()
Steals, season: 217, (2.7 spg)
Steals, game: 9, vs. Dallas Mavericks,
Steals, half: 7, first half, vs. Dallas Mavericks,
Rookie
Paul's rookie year was .
Highest free throw percentage, season: .847 (394–465)
Free throws made, game: 14, at New York Knicks,
Free throw attempts, game: 17, at New York Knicks,
Assists, season: 611 (7.8 apg)
Assists, game: 16, vs. Golden State Warriors,
Steals, season: 175 (2.2 spg)
Steals, game: 7, vs. Utah Jazz,
Playoffs
Highest average, assists per game, career: 11.0 (187/17)
Assists, game: 17, vs. Dallas Mavericks,
NBA career statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|
NO/Oklahoma City
| 78 || 78 || 36.0 || .430 || .282 || .847 ||
5.1 || 7.8 || 2.2 || .1 || 16.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| NO/Oklahoma City
| 64 || 64 || 36.8 || .437 || .350 || .818 || 4.4 || 8.9 || 1.8 || .1 || 17.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
|
80 ||
80 || 37.6 || .488 || .369 || .851 || 4.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|
11.6 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 2.7 || .1 || 21.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 78 || 78 ||
38.5 ||
.503 || .364 || .868 ||
5.5 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 11.0 || style="background:#cfecec;"|
2.8 || .1 ||
22.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 45 || 45 || 38.0 || .493 ||
.409 || .847 || 4.2 || 10.7 || 2.4 ||
.2 || 18.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 80 || 80 || 36.0 || .463 || .388 ||
.878 || 4.1 || 9.8 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 2.4 || .1 || 15.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|
L.A. Clippers
| 60 || 60 || 36.4 || .478 || .371 || .861 || 3.5 || 9.1 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 2.5 || .1 || 19.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Career
| 485 || 485 || 37.0 || .472 || .361 || .854 || 4.5 || 9.8 || 2.4 || .1 || 18.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| All-Star
| 4 || 3 || 28.8 || .476 || .400 || 1.000 || 4.8 || 11.8 || 3.2 || .0 || 12.0
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
2008
| style="text-align:left;"|
New Orleans
|
12 ||
12 || 40.5 || .502 || .238 || .785 || 4.9 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 11.3 || style="background:#cfecec;"|
2.3 ||
.2 ||
24.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
2009
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 5 || 5 || 40.2 || .411 || .313 ||
.857 || 4.4 || 10.4 || 1.6 || .0 || 16.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
2011
| style="text-align:left;"| New Orleans
| 6 || 6 ||
41.5 ||
.545 ||
.474 || .796 ||
6.7 || style="background:#cfecec;"|
11.5 || 1.8 || .0 || 22.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Career
| 23 || 23 || 40.7 || .493 || .339 || .799 || 5.3 || 11.1 || 2.0 || .1 || 21.9
International
}}
Paul made his debut internationally in 2004 for the USA World Championship For Young Men Qualifying Team that went 5–0 and captured the gold medal, qualifying the United States for the 2005 FIBA World Championship For Young Men. has earned 10 caps for various junior national teams. He made his debut for the senior United States national basketball team 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. Team USA finished with an 8–1 record and defeated 2004 Olympic gold medal winner Argentina for a third-place finish. Paul set a Team USA World Championship total assist record with 44 assists and a steals per game average of 4.9, to go along with only 9 turnovers.
He participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the USA went unbeaten en route to the gold medal, defeating 2006 world champion Spain. Playing as back up to starter Jason Kidd, Paul averaged 8.0 points on 50% shooting, a team-high 4.1 assists per game, 3.6 rebounds, and tied for second best on the team in steals averaging 2.25 a game as the "Redeem team" captured gold for the first time since the 2000 Olympics.
See also
List of National Basketball Association season assists leaders
List of National Basketball Association season steals leaders
List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game
References
External links
ChrisPaul3.com – The Official Website of Chris Paul
Chris Paul NBADraft.net profile
}}
Category:1985 births
Category:Living people
Category:African American basketball players
Category:American bowling players
Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Category:Basketball players from North Carolina
Category:Los Angeles Clippers players
Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans
Category:New Orleans Hornets draft picks
Category:New Orleans Hornets players
Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States
Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States
Category:Olympic medalists in basketball
Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
Category:People from Lewisville, North Carolina
Category:Point guards
Category:United States men's national basketball team members
Category:Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball players
Category:National Basketball Association All-Stars
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