Anshari TaslimThe perception of "clutch" basketball often leans towards an innate, almost genetic quality, suggesting certain players and teams possess an intrinsic ability to perform under pressure, while others do not. However, the reality is far more nuanced. Clutch performance, defined as the final five minutes of a game where the scoring margin is five points or less, represents an exceptionally tiny sample size, frequently appearing almost random in its outcomes. For instance, the Chicago Bulls of last season recorded a higher clutch net rating than the Boston Celtics. The 2022-23 Dallas Mavericks, who ultimately missed the playoffs, posted a 26-29 record in clutch situations, yet the 2023-24 iteration, with a largely similar roster, achieved a 23-9 clutch record en route to the NBA Finals. This inconsistency suggests that while not entirely random, consistent clutch performance is a rare commodity in the modern NBA.
An extraordinary exception to this variability, spanning the past two decades, has been Chris Paul. His arrival demonstrably transformed teams’ clutch metrics. The 2016-17 Houston Rockets, for example, ranked 18th in clutch net rating. Following Paul’s acquisition, the Rockets ascended to first in the 2017-18 season, outscoring opponents by a staggering 27.1 points per 100 possessions during these critical minutes. A similar pattern emerged with the Oklahoma City Thunder. After finishing 11th in clutch net rating in 2018-19, Paul’s leadership propelled them to first in 2019-20, where they outscored opponents by 24.4 points per 100 possessions in clutch time. The Phoenix Suns of 2019-20, prior to Paul, were 21st in the league in clutch net rating. While it took Paul two seasons to guide them to the NBA’s best clutch net rating—an astounding +33.4 in the 2021-22 season—his immediate impact in his first Phoenix year still culminated in a trip to the NBA Finals.
Between his inaugural All-Star season in 2008 and his final selection in 2022, Paul recorded victories in 65% of the NBA-defined clutch games he participated in. Over the identical timeframe, LeBron James achieved a 64.2% clutch win rate. When applying the same criteria—from first All-Star selection to last—to contemporaries such as Kevin Durant (59.6%) and Stephen Curry (60.5%), Paul maintained a superior clutch winning percentage. In the landscape of the 21st-century NBA, integrating Chris Paul into a roster provided arguably the most reliable pathway to securing close, regular-season victories.
Despite this statistical dominance, a pervasive, two-word qualifier often shadows Paul’s illustrious career: "regular season." The prevailing narrative in professional basketball dictates that achievements in the regular season, however remarkable, are often diminished if not replicated or surpassed in the playoffs, particularly by securing a championship. Chris Paul, who officially announced his retirement in June 2024 after 19 seasons, concludes his career without an NBA title. While he played his final season with the Golden State Warriors, a storied franchise, the championship window that once seemed open for him had largely closed. His eventual place on the list of greatest players never to win a championship is now solidified.
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Paul’s inclusion on this list is particularly frustrating for many observers due to the absence of a glaring, identifiable flaw that ostensibly prevented him from achieving ultimate team success. Unlike some of his peers, he does not possess a lengthy track record of disappearing acts in elimination games, as has been occasionally attributed to former teammate James Harden during their time together in Houston. His effort and conditioning, a point of critique for figures like Charles Barkley, remained consistently exemplary throughout his career. Paul’s game was marked by an all-encompassing excellence. Standing at a listed 6 feet tall (and often perceived as slightly shorter), he is tied for the seventh-most All-Defense selections in NBA history, a testament to his exceptional defensive prowess as a guard. Offensively, he flirted with the exclusive 50-40-90 shooting club, led the NBA in assists five times while maintaining an elite assist-to-turnover ratio, and demonstrated exceptional rebounding for his position. Often dubbed the "Point God," Paul was a basketball savant, known for his relentless pursuit of tactical advantages, exemplified by an instance where he reportedly convinced an official to issue a technical foul on an opponent for an untucked jersey. He embodied the very definition of a winning player, yet the ultimate team victory eluded him.
Paul, naturally, bears some degree of responsibility for certain playoff disappointments. The 2014 collapse against the Oklahoma City Thunder, for example, stands out as a critical misstep. In that game, Paul committed two turnovers in 17 seconds and fouled Russell Westbrook on a three-point attempt while holding a two-point lead, contributing to one of the most painful playoff losses of his career. However, such moments are not unique to Paul; even legends like LeBron James have the 2011 NBA Finals, and Kobe Bryant faced criticism after the 2004 Finals. These blemishes are often overshadowed by their respective championship victories, a luxury Paul was never afforded. For Paul, the stars frequently failed to align, often due to circumstances beyond his control.
One of the most significant "what-if" scenarios in Paul’s career involved the voided trade to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011. NBA Commissioner David Stern’s unprecedented decision to block the transaction arguably altered the trajectory of Paul’s career and potentially the league itself. Had the trade proceeded, many speculate Paul would have secured at least one championship in purple and gold, potentially alongside Bryant in the twilight of his career or with a subsequent Lakers iteration. Instead, he was rerouted to the Los Angeles Clippers, a franchise historically plagued by misfortune. During his "Lob City" era with the Clippers, injuries frequently sidelined his star teammate Blake Griffin, and the team was embroiled in the Donald Sterling ownership scandal, which ultimately forced the sale of the team.
Even within the Clippers’ tenure, Paul had a genuine opportunity for a title in 2015. After slaying the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in a memorable first-round series, the Clippers held a 3-2 lead against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals. In Game 6, with Los Angeles holding a commanding 19-point lead late in the third quarter, the Rockets mounted an improbable comeback fueled by an extraordinary shooting display from Josh Smith and Corey Brewer, ultimately stealing the game and the series. At that juncture, the Golden State Warriors, who would eventually win the championship, were still considered vulnerable. The Memphis Grizzlies had pushed them to six games, and the Cleveland Cavaliers would later do the same in the Finals despite being without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Paul, hobbled by an injury, could not prevent what became one of the most infamous instances of unfavorable shooting variance in playoff history.
Golden State subsequently ascended to dynastic status, becoming a persistent obstacle in Paul’s championship pursuit, alongside a recurring pattern of injuries. The "what if" of the 2016 Warriors’ season looms large; had they not won the title that year, Kevin Durant might have considered joining Paul in Los Angeles rather than aligning with Stephen Curry in Oakland. While Paul played alongside numerous All-Star teammates throughout his career, he never experienced the benefit of an "unimpeachable and nearly unstoppable" title-favorite duo akin to Curry and Durant.
Paul came agonizingly close to overcoming the Warriors alongside James Harden in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. Houston led Golden State 3-2 after five games, but Paul sustained a hamstring injury at the close of Game 5, sidelining him for the remainder of the series. The Warriors comfortably won Game 6 on their home court. In Game 7, Houston suffered another brutal stroke of shooting variance, famously enduring a 0-for-27 stretch from three-point range, losing the series at home. A year later, Paul’s relationship with Harden reportedly soured, leading to his trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
His season with the Thunder in 2019-20, where he led a young team to an unexpected playoff berth, demonstrated his enduring leadership and skill. The "what if" of Presti building around Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, utilizing the Thunder’s vast collection of draft picks, remains an intriguing alternative history. Instead, Paul was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he arguably came closer to a championship than at any other point. The Suns reached the 2021 NBA Finals, only to be defeated by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s heroic performance for the Milwaukee Bucks. The following season, the team, reportedly impacted by COVID-19 protocols, collapsed against the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, effectively closing Paul’s primary championship window. In his later career, including his stint with the Golden State Warriors in 2023-24, Paul continued to emphasize his desire to "play and contribute and hoop," a sentiment he expressed when reportedly considering options as a 2024 free agent for a significant role.
Chris Paul, widely revered as the "Point God," played the game with a mastery few have matched. While a degree of randomness is inherent in clutch performance and championship outcomes, Paul consistently put himself and his teams in the optimal position to succeed. His career narrative is often characterized by a series of unfortunate circumstances and ill-timed events. Hypothetically replaying his career 100 times, a strong argument can be made that he would hoist a trophy in a significant majority of those scenarios, with even a minor tweak to injuries, shooting variance, or team circumstances potentially altering his championship fate.
Ultimately, Paul joins the frustrating yet illustrious list of all-time greats who, despite unparalleled individual brilliance and a career dedicated to winning, never achieved the ultimate team prize. His legacy, however, is firmly cemented not by the presence of a championship ring, but by his extraordinary statistical impact, his profound influence on team performance, and his undeniable status as one of the most intelligent and effective point guards to ever grace an NBA court.
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