Chris Paul’s announcement on Friday ended the storied career of one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game, one that was intertwined with the Utah Jazz for 21 years in the NBA.
As many Jazz fans know, the Jazz were in dire need of a point guard in the 2005 NBA Draft. John Stockton had retired in 2003 and the team was 26-56 in the 2004-05 season, with a variety of players competing unsuccessfully to fill his shoes.
The choice for the Jazz Brass came down to Deron Williams or Chris Paul, both great guards in college, either of whom would have been a worthy successor to Stockton. Williams had a size advantage, but Paul was the more natural passer. Both were equally competitive.
Ultimately, the Jazz selected Williams and Paul went fourth overall to the New Orleans Hornets.
For years, “CP3” and “D-Will” battled for the title of best young point guard in the game. Don’t laugh: It was a legitimate argument, and for a while D-Will was considered the superior player.
However, we know the outcome: Williams went through some rough patches in Utah, was outplayed, and had his career derailed in Brooklyn. He wasn’t the same after that.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul became a perennial All-Star, leading the league in assists five times and stealing six times. Apart from a championship, he has achieved almost everything in his long career. It’s just a shame that things ended up this way.
Why this is good news for the Utah Jazz
Throughout his career, Chris Paul had risen up the NBA record books to the point of being second in NBA history in both assists and steals. The record holder in both categories? John Stockton, the point guard of the Utah Jazz himself in the Hall of Fame.
Once CP3 reached 10,000 assists and 2,200 steals, some wondered if he could challenge John Stockton’s hold on those records.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. CP3 had a few good years in Phoenix, but couldn’t repeat that success in his last few NBA stops.
With final numbers of 12,552 assists and 2,728 steals, Chris Paul remains 2nd overall in both categories behind Stockton (15,806 and 3,265 respectively).
Now that Paul is no longer a threat, Stockton’s hold on that data is secure for quite some time. Most of the top 35 players in total assists are retired; the other players are past their peak.
LeBron James is closest to Stockton in assists (11,838), but he’s still nearly 4,000 away and unlikely to get there. The only active ones, in their prime, that could Challenge Stockton are Nikola Jokic (10,000 away), or Trae Young (almost 11,000 away).
As for Stockton’s steals mark of 3,265, LeBron is the only active player within 1,000 steals, and he stands at 2,384. There are five other active players between 1,579 and 2,023 steals: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Mike Conley, Steph Curry and Paul George; none pose a serious threat to the record of thefts.
So the good news (for the Jazz) is that with the retirement of Chris Paul, John Stockton’s data is safeand it will likely be a decade or more before a serious threat to them emerges.
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