For the duration of his 15-year career, Chris Paul has been regarded as one of the NBA’s top point guards. According to ESPN, he’s the 11th best of all-time.
In honor of the 2019-20 season being the NBA’s 74th, the publication has undertaken the rather ambitious endeavor of releasing top 74 rankings over the past few weeks, with one release, in particular, catching Thunder fans’ attention. Russell Westbrook’s historic campaign in which he averaged a triple-double wasn’t deemed worthy as one of the top 74 individual seasons in NBA history, though Westbrook himself did make the cut as one of the top 74 players in NBA history.
Checking in at No. 42, Westbrook was narrowly edged by Chris Paul, who ESPN ranked as the 40th-best player of all-time.
Obviously, Paul hasn’t led a team to a championship, but his teams are usually winners. And that’s no coincidence. In defense of his placement, ESPN’s Andrew Lopez offered the following:
Paul will get knocked by some for his failure to lead a team to a championship, but that shouldn’t take away from what he has accomplished on the floor. Paul has been named to eight All-NBA teams, including to the first team four times. He’s fourth in career assists per game, and he has been one of the game’s peskiest defenders, with nine NBA All-Defensive team selections while leading the league in steals six times.
Paul was beaten out by 10 other point guards, making him the 11th-best, according to ESPN.
Magic Johnson was the highest-ranked point guard, at fifth. He was followed by Oscar Robertson (11), Jerry West (13), Stephen Curry (16) and John Stockton (28) to round out the top five.
Allen Iverson, (29), Steve Nash (30), Isiah Thomas (31), Jason Kidd (35) and Walt Frazier (39) comprise the top 10, ranking sixth to 10th, respectively.
Then comes Chris Paul (who, interestingly enough, is followed by Westbrook).
Agree?