Longtime NBA star Chris Paul, who returned to the Los Angeles Clippers this offseason, will be calling it quits at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Paul announced the news on his social media accounts with a highlight reel of his 21-year career alongside the caption, "Back in NC!!! What a ride…Still so much left…GRATEFUL for this last one!!"
The post comes as the Clippers are in Charlotte to play the Hornets on Saturday. Paul is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he played in college for Wake Forest.
The 40-year-old point guard has played for seven different franchises since being drafted by the Hornets, then in New Orleans, in 2005.
His greatest successes as a player came as a member of the "Lob City" Clippers from 2011 to 2017. He, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were considered one of the greatest trios in the league at the time and led the franchise to its best stretch of playoff success to that point.
Paul was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2017, where he teamed up with guard James Harden to lead the team within one game of the NBA Finals in his first season. He later found success with the Phoenix Suns, where he reached the NBA Finals in 2021 before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games.
He returned to the Clippers this offseason, but has appeared in only 10 of the team's 15 games. He's averaging 13 minutes per game and just 2 points. The Clippers have been perhaps the most disappointing team in the league this season, with a record of 4-11 as of Saturday morning.
