Chris Paul recently passed Jason Kidd to become No. 2 on the list for all-time assists in the NBA. He’s put together an illustrious career, one that will certainly have him donning an orange Hall of Fame jacket as soon as he’s eligible for the honor.
And while this isn’t Paul’s last year in the NBA, the 12-time All-Star does have an idea of when he’ll finally call it career. While speaking with retired Spurs legend and recent inductee into the Naismith Hall of Fame Tony Parker, Paul gave a short window for when he’ll end up retiring.
“Maybe a year or two, I’m still trying to feel it out,” the 39-year-old Paul said. “I think at this point, the hardest part is — I love this, practice today and all that. I love hooping, I love all of that. The hardest part is when I get home and I gotta watch my kids games on my iPad. That’s the tug-of-war right now.”
Paul, who is currently in Year 20 of his career, may not be putting up the numbers that regularly had him in MVP conversations during his prime, but he’s been a valuable veteran presence on a Spurs team that is going through a rebuild centered around French phenom Victor Wembanyama. Paul’s always been praised for his high basketball IQ and sometimes acting as a player-coach on the floor, and not only is he utilizing those skills with San Antonio this season, but he’s back to being featured in the starting lineup after a year with the Warriors where he primarily came off the bench for the first time in his career.
Paul said that last year with the Warriors was “one of the toughest years” for him. Paul didn’t specify why, but he did say that playing a significant amount of minutes was a big reason why he chose the Spurs.
As far as plans after he retires, Paul said that while he previously said he’d never go into coaching, he would consider it now, just not immediately after he hangs it up.
“I always said I wasn’t going to coach, but I’m open to a whole bunch of things now,” Paul said. “I definitely know I don’t want to do it right off the bat whenever I finish, because I definitely want to be present for the kids.”
Paul’s also previously spoken about wanting to own an NBA team at some point, saying he’d like to either own his hometown Charlotte Hornets or an expansion team.
