50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
2. Chris Paul
New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, New Orleans Hornets 2005-11; Los Angeles Clippers 2011-16
The New Orleans Hornets used the fourth overall pick in 2005 to take Wake Forest’s Chris Paul and then watched as he helped the franchise through a tough challenge.
The Hornets were relocated to Oklahoma City for two seasons after Hurricane Katrina and Paul made them interesting, winning Rookie of the Year in 2005-06 and earning three All-NBA nods, three All-Defensive team selections and four All-Star berths. He was runner-up for NBA MVP in 2007-08 and finished fifth in 2008-09.
Paul also led the NBA in assists in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and in steals in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11.
The Hornets missed the playoffs in the two years in Oklahoma City, then returned to New Orleans to win the Southwest Division and beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round in 2008 before losing a Game 7 at home to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the second round.
In 2009, New Orleans lost in the first round to the Denver Nuggets, missed the playoffs in 2010 as Paul missed 37 games with injuries and lost in the first round to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011.
After the lockout, the Hornets had a deal in place to trade Paul to the Lakers, but the deal was vetoed by NBA commissioner David Stern—the New Orleans franchise was under NBA ownership at the time.
After the trade was nixed, Paul was traded to the Clippers with two draft picks for three players and a draft pick.
Since coming to Los Angeles, Paul has five more All-NBA selections, running his total to eight. His five All-Defensive team nods give him eight as well and he’s been to five All-Star games to push his total to nine overall. He was third in the MVP voting in 2011-12 and fourth in 2012-13.
Paul led the NBA in steals in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 and was the assists leader in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Los Angeles won a first-round Game 7 against the Memphis Grizzlies before being swept in the second round by the Spurs in 2012. In 2013, the Clippers lost to Memphis in the first round.
With the backdrop of the Donald Sterling controversy, Los Angeles won a Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors in the first round in 2014 before falling in six games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
In 2015, the Clippers became the ninth team in NBA history to lose a playoff series after taking a 3-1 lead, falling in the second round to the Houston Rockets. This season, Paul broke his hand during the first round as the Clippers fell to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Paul’s average of 9.9 assists is third all-time and his mark of 2.3 steals per game is fifth. He’s also 11th with 7,688 assists.
For his 11-year career, Paul also averaged 18.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in 35.9 minutes per game on .473/.365/.864 shooting.
Paul is under contract with the Clippers through 2017-18, with the final year a player option at almost $24.3 million.
The current tally on Paul’s playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-0
Conference Finals: 0-0
Conference Semifinals: 0-4
First Round: 4-4
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