San Antonio Spurs point guard Chris Paul achieved a significant milestone on Friday, becoming the third player in NBA history to accumulate 12,000 career assists during his team's home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Entering the game with 11,997 assists, Paul required only 3 minutes and 34 seconds of game time to cross this landmark, accomplishing it by assisting rookie Victor Wembanyama with an alley-oop dunk to set the Spurs ahead with an early 13-4 lead.
With this historic assist, Paul joins the ranks of assist leader John Stockton, who holds the record with 15,806 career assists, and Jason Kidd, the current head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, who has tallied 12,091 assists. Paul's trajectory in the league suggests that he may soon find himself in sole possession of second place on the career assist list, as he commenced the game needing 95 assists to surpass Kidd. Averaging 8.6 assists per game leading up to this milestone, Paul remains on a path that could see him achieve this feat in approximately 11 or 12 games, with potential matchups against the Sacramento Kings on December 6 and the New Orleans Pelicans on December 8 serving as possible opportunities.
At 39 years of age and in his 20th season in the NBA, Paul has shown remarkable performance since joining the Spurs, contributing an average of 10.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and the aforementioned 8.6 assists per game. His contributions have played a pivotal role in the Spurs' improvement this season, as the team has started with a 6-6 record after concluding the previous season with a 20-62 mark. As he approaches the conclusion of his career, Paul is well on track to finishing ranked second all-time in assists, while the Spurs aim to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
