Best Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee from each NBA franchise

Best New Orleans Pelicans Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee: *Chris Paul

The New Orleans Pelicans are the only one of the 30 NBA teams founded this century. Due to that fact, there are only so many players one could even consider to represent the franchise and even fewer who would qualify for the Hall of Fame.

The ideal player who checks both boxes? That would be Chris Paul.

Drafted with the fourth overall pick in 2005, The Point God wasn’t given his nickname by accident. Despite standing just six feet tall, he’s everything a coach could ever want in a floor general, a two-way threat equally adept at setting up his teammates and finding his rhythm in the scoring department.

After winning Rookie of the Year, CP3 only continues his ascent up the league’s superstar hierarchy. By year three, he was a perennial All-Star who wound up leading the league in both assists and steals per game in back-to-back seasons.

Even at a time where the traditional big man was still flourishing, Paul still found a way to get his.

Throughout six seasons in New Orleans — then the Hornets — he averaged 18.7 points, 9.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. He even finished second in the MVP voting for his stellar play in the 2007-08 season.

Even with one of the best players in the game, CP’s greatness never translated to much team success during his tenure. The Hornets made the playoffs just three times and advanced past the first round once, where they squandered a Game 7 on their homecourt to the San Antonio Spurs in the conference semis.

The supporting cast could’ve been better, but perhaps Paul’s lack of size finally caught up to him when it mattered most. Whatever disadvantage that brought never stopped him from playing his style, one that electrified arenas and helped him find historic levels of greatness at the highest level.