Chris Paul’s legacy has him as one of the greatest PGs that we’ve ever seen. In terms of personal achievements, he has a lot on his resume. This includes being a nine-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA selection, four-time assist champion, and a six-time steal champion. But, when discussing all of Paul’s notable accomplishments, one that doesn’t seem to be there for him is playoff success.
Paul is one of the NBA’s most elite guards, but from his time in New Orleans to Los Angeles to now Houston, having success in the postseason is just not something he’s accustomed to. Let’s reflect on Paul’s postseason history thus far.
New Orleans
Chris Paul’s first playoff appearance came in the 2007-08 season with the New Orleans Hornets. At only 22 years old, Paul with trusted as the franchise player to gets New Orleans through the postseason. In his first taste of the postseason, he led the second-seeded Hornets to the second round where they lost in seven games to the Spurs. In the process, Paul averaged 24.1 points, 11.3 assists, and 2.3 steals.
The next season, the Hornets were bounced in only five games. In accordance with the stats above, Paul saw a major falloff, only averaging 16.6 points, 10.4 assists, and 1.6 steals in the ’09 postseason. His playoff woes continued in 2011 after failing to even make it back to the postseason in 2010. Paul again saw a first-round exit. This time, it was at the hands of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in six games. In those six games, Paul averaged 22.0 points and 11.5 assists (career playoff-high). Fortunately, that was Paul’s last season in New Orleans.
Although brief, there was a common trend between all of Paul’s early playoff performances: not making it past the second round. Even with the second-best record in the Western Conference in 2008, Paul couldn’t get the job done for his team. A common counter would be that he was only 22, which is fair enough. The real question, though, is how Paul was going to get the pieces to ensure the postseason success the Hornets had yet to experience. At this point in Paul’s career, the solution was a change in scenery. Enter the Los Angeles Clippers.
Los Angeles
Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers in 2011. In his six years with the team, Paul led Los Angeles to a playoff appearance in every single one of them. However, he didn’t make it past the second round in any of those years.
| Year | Games | Eliminated By | Points | Assists | Steals |
| 2012 | 11 | 0-4 vs. Spurs Second Round | 17.6 | 7.9 | 2.7 |
| 2013 | 6 | 2-2 vs. Grizzlies First Round | 22.8 | 6.3 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 13 | 2-4 vs. Thunder Second Round | 19.8 | 10.3 | 2.8 |
| 2015 | 12 | 3-4 vs. Rockets Second Round | 22.1 | 8.8 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | 4 | 2-4 vs. Blazers First Round | 23.8 | 7.3 | 2.3 |
| 2017 | 7 | 3-4 vs. Jazz First Round | 25.3 | 9.9 | 1.7 |
The narrative in Paul’s time with the Clippers was simply that he had never made it to the Western Conference Finals. For almost all of his career, he’s been regarded as the best player on all of his teams up to 2017. As one of the best PGs, he’s shown to be a great defender, great scorer, and beyond that, an even better leader. His legacy was even in question back then. On a complete team with JJ Redick, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, it’s hard to imagine that this team couldn’t make it to the Western Conference Finals even once.
According to the table above, there’s no doubt that Paul came awfully close. But, at the same time, it looks as if Paul needed to step up in these big moments. His career playoff-high average in points came in his last year with the Clippers when they were eliminated in seven games. Imagine if Paul brought that same energy in his first years with the team.
Even more interesting, Chris Paul never clinched a seed higher than third in his time with the Clippers. Although many players don’t achieve this feat, Paul was on a team where it was possible. They had the weapons, and with Paul as their best player, expectations were beyond high.
Houston
His time in LA ended the same way it did with New Orleans. Chris Paul needed a change of scenery. In 2017, Paul was traded to the Rockets to form the league’s best backcourt up to that point. James Harden and Chris Paul, two ball-dominant players, shared the court in hopes of bringing a championship to Houston.
In his first season with the Rockets, Chris Paul came and did exactly what he set out to do, win. Although Paul only played 58 games, the Rockets ended the regular season with a 65-17 record.
2018 Playoffs
However, this is mainly about Chris Paul’s legacy in regards to his postseason success. The question on everyone’s mind was, as the top seed in the West, could Chris Paul finally make it to the Conference Finals. The answer was yes. After defeating the Timberwolves in five games and the Jazz in seven games, Paul finally made it to the final two in his conference. Maybe it was because he had a better player by his side or that he sacrificed having the ball in his hands all the time. Paul, throughout the 2018 playoffs, averaged 21.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.0 steals. You call it a dropoff in his pasty playoff years. I call it a strong sacrifice.
The Western Conference Finals had the Rockets play the Warriors in a series that went seven games. A series that had many people think Houston would go to the Finals, went downhill quickly. In Game 5, Chris Paul suffered a strained hamstring. With the Rockets up 3-2 in the series, this kept him out of both Game 6 and Game 7. The Warriors won both, advancing to the NBA Finals.
After 99 games, Paul’s season ended due to injury. The obvious question on everyone’s mind was the big “what if.” If Paul was healthy, would the Rockets have closed it out at the Oracle? If Paul was healthy, would the Rockets be defending NBA Champions right now?
It’s hard to say that injuries don’t affect legacy, and here they did. If Paul and the Rockets were one game away from closing out the Warriors, what would the next season bring? Could they actually get the job done?
2019 Playoffs
So, fast forward to this season, the Rockets clearly aren’t the same team. After losing some of their best defensive players, the Rockets started off the season rather slow. As the season went on, the Rockets found their stride, finishing with a 52-39 record and the fourth seed in the West.
After knocking out the Jazz in five games, Houston met Golden State again. This time, with Chris Paul healthy. The series, tied 2-2, took a turn for the worse yet again in Game 5. Kevin Durant suffered a strained right calf. Although the Warriors ended up winning Game 5 anyways, Durant was ruled out for the remainder series.
This is where the legacy of Chris Paul matters more than ever.
Chance For Redemption
Durant has arguably been the best player in the playoffs this year. He’s carried the Warriors on his back through cold games by both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Now that he was out, and the Rockets were fully healthy, it was up to Paul to step up and prove that he’s that elite player we all know he is/can be. This was the biggest game of Paul’s career.
But… Paul fell short. No Kevin Durant was no problem for the Warriors. Golden State won Game 6 118-113. Paul notched 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists on 11-19 shooting, 3-6 from behind the arc. He had a very efficient game, but it just wasn’t enough. There’s a reason this article is not about Paul and not James Harden.
Throughout Paul’s career before the Rockets, he’d been known as the best player on the team. He comes to the Rockets, with the great James Harden, and with his best shot yet, still couldn’t achieve the success that would’ve defined his career. If I’m being honest, Chris Paul didn’t do enough. As an elite PG who didn’t have to face one of the league’s best players in Kevin Durant, the Rockets should’ve won this series.
How His Legacy Is Affected
So, what I’m trying to get at is that Chris Paul’s legacy might just be compromised. In my opinion, he’s one of the greatest PG’s of all-time. In his 14 seasons, he hasn’t achieved any notable playoff success. He has the numbers but not the achievements when it matters most. Chris Paul has only notched a top-two seed twice in his career, once as the “franchise player.”
Where does Chris Paul go from here? He looks like he’ll be going into season 15 still on the Rockets. However, with this year being his best chance yet to potentially make an NBA Finals, what more can he do? There’s no doubt that he’s showing signs of slowing down after playing only 58 games in back-to-back seasons. After his playoff showing this year, the legacy of Chris Paul is in question… potentially even compromised.