When Chris Paul tore his hamstring at the end of game five
in this past season’s Western Conference Finals against the Golden State
Warriors, anyone who pays attention to the NBA knew instantly what it meant –
Paul’s best, perhaps last chance to change the narrative about his career was
over.
Paul is ranked No. 19 on this list because he is a statistical
marvel. He’s a four-time league leader in assists and six-time steals champion.
He’s averaged 18.0 points per game or more in nine of his 13 seasons.
His advanced numbers are even more impressive. He’s topped
22.0 in PER every single season. Topped 25.0 in PER in eight seasons and is one
of just 10 players to ever top 30.0 in PER in a year. He’s topped 10.0 in win
shares in 11 of his 13 seasons. He’s been above 7.0 in Box +/- nine times,
including a peak of 11.2. He’s just one of 10 players to top 10.0 in Box +/- in
a season. He has had five seasons above 6.0 in VORP, including a year at 10.0.
Only seven players have done that.
Chris Paul is easily one of the greatest basketball players
to ever play and, at just 6-feet tall, easily the best small player. There are
18 players ranked higher than Paul in my system and the next shortest is 6-2.
But Paul also has never played in an NBA Finals, and, until
this past season, he’d never even advanced to a conference finals. Of the 18
players ahead of Paul in my system, all of them have played in an NBA Finals
and only two haven’t at least won one NBA/ABA title.
Paul’s teams have been to the playoffs 10 times. They’ve only
advanced out of the first round four. It’s not as if he hasn’t had talented
teammates. His 2007-2008 New Orleans Hornets team had David West, Peja Stojakovic
and Tyson Chandler. His Clippers teams had Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and
Jamal Crawford. And, of course, this year’s Houston team paired Paul with James
Harden.
In general, you can’t blame Paul for the shortcomings. Here
are his PERs and Box +/- marks in the postseason versus the regular season.
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Chris Paul
regular season vs. postseason
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PER
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Box +/-
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Season
|
Playoffs
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Season
|
Playoffs
|
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2007-2008
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28.3
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30.7
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9.2
|
12.3
|
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2008-2009
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30.0
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16.1
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11.2
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-1.5
|
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2010-2011
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23.7
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28.9
|
6.4
|
10.4
|
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2011-2012
|
27.0
|
20.0
|
7.9
|
4.8
|
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2012-2013
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26.4
|
29.2
|
7.5
|
9.0
|
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2013-2014
|
25.9
|
23.6
|
7.4
|
8.3
|
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2014-2015
|
26.0
|
25.7
|
7.5
|
7.6
|
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2015-2016
|
26.2
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33.2
|
7.8
|
14.2
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2016-2017
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26.2
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27.8
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8.8
|
12.2
|
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2017-2018
|
24.4
|
22.9
|
4.3
|
6.5
|
Paul’s PER has been higher in the playoffs in five of his 10 postseason trips and his Box +/- has been higher in eight out of 10. He’s one of the very rare players whose shooting percentage is higher in the playoffs than the regular season. He’s a playoff warrior … and yet his teams have won just 46.2 percent of the playoff games he’s played in. It’s an unsolvable mystery and it is the reason Paul is not higher on this list.
After the Game 7 loss this year to the Warriors, which Paul
watched in street clothes, TNT analyst Kenny Smith ended the broadcast by
calling Paul a champion. There was a pause before TNT show host Ernie Johnson
corrected him by saying Paul is a winner but not a champion.
With Golden State adding talent after its third title in
four years and the Rockets having to retool, Paul might not get another chance
to change that sentence.
|
Chris Paul
bio info
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Career
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2005-2018
|
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Games
|
892
|
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Points
|
18.7
|
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Rebounds
|
4.5
|
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Assists
|
9.8
|
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FG Pct.
|
47.2%
|
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All-Star games
|
9
|
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NBA MVPs
|
0
|
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NBA titles
|
0
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
10
|
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Playoff games
|
91
|
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Points
|
21.4
|
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Rebounds
|
4.9
|
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Assists
|
8.8
|
|
FG Pct.
|
48.0%
|
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Hall of Fame
|
|
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Top 100
rankings
|
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Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
408.65
|
16th
|
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5-year
|
1,654.97
|
22nd
|
|
10-year
|
3,058.83
|
17th
|
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Career
|
3,420.04
|
36th
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|
Chris Paul
at his peak
|
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2007-2008
|
Paul
|
Top 5
|
Points
|
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PER
|
28.3
|
26.97
|
|
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Win Shares
|
17.8
|
15.00
|
|
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Box +/-
|
9.2
|
8.40
|
|
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VORP
|
8.5
|
7.20
|
|
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Total Advanced Stats
|
63.8
|
57.56
|
110.84
|
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Playoff PER
|
30.7
|
26.14
|
|
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Win Shares
|
2.9
|
3.27
|
|
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Box +/-
|
12.3
|
9.35
|
|
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VORP
|
1.8
|
1.83
|
|
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Total Advanced Stats
|
47.7
|
40.59
|
117.51
|
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Reg. Season Win %
|
68.75
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68.75
|
|
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Playoff Win %
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58.33
|
58.33
|
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MVP Voting (75 points)
|
894/1,260
|
53.21
|
|
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Playoff MVP (25 points)
|
0
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0
|
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Total Score
|
|
|
408.65
|
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Paul’s 10 greatest seasons
|
|
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2007-2008
|
408.65
|
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2012-2013
|
317.80
|
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2017-2018
|
317.18
|
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2014-2015
|
306.16
|
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2015-2016
|
305.18
|
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2011-2012
|
293.49
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2010-2011
|
291.11
|
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2016-2017
|
289.52
|
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2008-2009
|
235.62
|
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2006-2007
|
120.74
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Career
winning percentage
|
|||
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W
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L
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Pct.
|
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Regular Season
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566
|
326
|
63.45%
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Playoffs
|
42
|
49
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46.15%
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