Modern legend Chris Paul will return to the Los Angeles Clippers for what could be his Association swan song.
The Clip Show is bringing back a former cast member for a potential series finale.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, Chris Paul will rejoin the Los Angeles Clippers for an “expected final” NBA tour, bringing him back to the site of some of his finest NBA hours. Paul returns to California after a one-year tour with the San Antonio Spurs, and the 2023-24 campaign with the Golden State Warriors.
The 40-year-old Paul began his career with the New Orleans Hornets before he was traded to the Clippers in 2011. That deal came several months after then-NBA commissioner David Stern, overseeing the league-owned Hornets, infamously vetoed a trade that would’ve sent Paul to Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
With Paul’s passes creating showstopping dunks for homegrown talents Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the downtrodden Clippers franchise enjoyed its first stint of sustained success, reaching the playoffs in each of his six seasons in red. With “Lob City” leading the way, the Clippers posted the third-best winning percentage in the NBA between 2011 and 2017 at .658, behind only San Antonio and Golden State.
Paul reached five of his 12 All-Star Games with the Clippers (winning the exhibition’s 2013 MVP award in Houston), as well as three All-NBA First Teams. His name continues to dominate the Clipper record book, standing as the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (4,023) and the runner-up in steals (902). Postseason success, however, proved fleeting as Los Angeles failed to reached the Western Conference Finals during his tenure.
Welcome back, CP3! pic.twitter.com/fg7OAH8Dix https://t.co/IGSeRAYGPd
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 21, 2025
With contract extension talks proving ineffective, Paul was eventually traded to the Houston Rockets in 2017, uniting him new LA teammate James Harden for the first time.
Two seasons in Houston (which included a 65-win out and a long-sought trip to the conference finals in year one) gave way to a brief tour of Oklahoma City before Paul spent three seasons with the Phoenix Suns. Together with Devin Booker, Paul finally reached the NBA Finals, helping guide the Suns to a Western title in 2021, one that ironically clipped the Clippers in the conference finals.
He was then sent to the Warriors in 2023, ironically in the deal that helped Phoenix acquire another future red teammate in Bradley Beal. Paul played and started all 82 Spurs games last season at age 39, averaging 8.8 points and 7.4 assists.
Paul now joins a Clipper group that’s going all in on a title run after taking the Denver Nuggets to seven games in the opening round of last year’s playoffs: Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Ivica Zubac return from last year’s group while Paul and Beal are part of an expansive free agent haul that also features John Collins and Brook Lopez. The Clippers have earned 50 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since Paul guided them to five such tallies between 2013 and 2017.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
