Spurs point guard Chris Paul reached another milestone Friday night, handing out the 12,000th assist of his career, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. John Stockton may be out of reach at 15,806, but Paul is closing in on Jason Kidd’s second place total of 12,091. At age 39, Paul attributes his longevity to staying in top shape and studying the game.
“It’s training all day and all night,” he said. “The late-night massages. It’s getting up in the morning. It’s eating right. It’s training while you’re on vacation. It’s watching film day in and day out.”
Listed at 6’0″, Paul is by far the shortest player to reach 20 NBA seasons, McDonald adds. That list mostly includes big men, along with a few hyper-athletic wings. One of them is Paul’s close friend LeBron James, who met him after the game and discussed what it’s like to be in the twilight of their careers.
“Me and ‘Bron talked about it a little bit,” Paul said. “We don’t know how much longer it’s going to be, but I have so much gratitude for this game and the things I’ve been able to do and learn over the years.”
There’s more from San Antonio:
- James also talked briefly to Stephon Castle after the game ended, which made a strong impression on the rookie guard, McDonald states in a separate story. After the Lakers pulled out a narrow victory, James shared some advice on a few reads that Castle could have made. “I’ve been watching him since I was a kid,” Castle said. “So for him to come up to me and talk to me for even that little bit, it really meant a lot. … I really respect him and appreciate him for coming up and saying that to me. He didn’t really have to.”
- Friday’s losses left the Spurs and Grizzlies as the only teams without an NBA Cup win since the tournament was introduced last season, McDonald adds in the same piece. San Antonio will get three more chances, hosting Oklahoma City on Tuesday and then traveling to Utah on November 26 and Phoenix on December 3.
- Victor Wembanyama will miss Saturday’s game at Dallas with a right knee contusion, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Zach Collins will replace him in the starting lineup.
Instead of finishing the rebuild, the Spurs thought Chris Paul will solve that and win them a championship….. What a joke of a off season
Pop should retire right now and the Spurs should let him keep all his money
The Spurs won’t win anything unless Silver hands it to them cough Denver cough Boston cough cough Toronto
They shouldn’t have brought in Paul. They didn’t bring him into win a championship. They brought him in to be a veteran presence on a young team. Which I’m sorry he’s not the right guy to do that. But the idea that they brought him into what a championship is just not true
The Castle comment does beg a question: how much is Chris Paul actually interacting with his younger teammates?
He doesn’t give a crap about anyone except himself