About a month ago, Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul recorded his 10,000th career assist. On Monday evening, Paul recorded another great accomplishment, passing Hall of Famer Magic Johnson for fifth place on the NBA’s all-time assists list.
In the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Paul dished a time to Booker with nearly 4:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. This marked No. 10,142 in assists, passing Magic on the leaderboard. The 11-time All-Star point guard finished with 13 assists in Phoenix’s 128-127 overtime victory.
After the game, Paul stated he was grateful for such a milestone. To be able to pass Los Angeles Laker Legend Magic was a surreal moment.
“The first thing I’m going to do is I’m going to send this ball to Magic and see if he’ll sign it for me,” Paul said while holding the game ball.
“There will never be another Magic. Showtime. As a kid trying to do these no-look passes…I don’t know man. It’s surreal.”
Paul would go on to thank those around him, as he stated that this accomplishment couldn’t have been done without them.
“It’s a blessing man. I don’t take this stuff for granted,” he said. “[I want to] give a huge shoutout to my team, all the people that make my world go round. Seriously. 16 years, a lot of people don’t get a chance to say that.”
Paul’s fellow teammates congratulated him for the milestone and described what it’s like playing alongside the point guard.
“The man has proven that he’s a ‘Point God’ every time he plays,” Suns center Deandre Ayton said. “Breaking milestones and stuff like. Accolades. It’s a honor to be a part of it. I dapped him up after he got the game ball. We all celebrated. I was like, ‘I appreciate you. I’m really honored to be a part of this.’ This is crazy.”
His All-Star teammate Devin Booker also expressed the joy and respect he had for Paul.
“It’s hard to put it in words. That’s Magic Johnson and that’s Chris Paul,” Booker said. “So for me being a fan of this game for so long, being inspired by these guys and watching continuous film on both of them, there’s no words for it…There’s so much respect for him, not just from me but league-wide and worldwide.”
Now Chris trails only John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Mark Jackson in the all time assists list. The 35-year old guard is averaging 8.7 assists a game this season for the Suns and the team only has 15 regular-season games left. At the moment, it doesn’t look like he’ll be passing anyone else on the list this season. However, he’ll look to pass Jackson and Nash in the coming years, as he trails them by 199 assists and 200 assists respectively.
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