Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
11-time All-NBA guard Chris Paul says he is excited to be joining the Spurs. Paul, who just signed a contract with San Antonio posted a video on social media.
"Hey what's up Spurs fans. Just wanted to let you know how excited I am to get to San Antonio. I would have never thought in a million years that I would get to an opportunity to play for Pop, but I am so excited," said Paul. "Excited about this young and talented team. Cannot wait to get there and get to work and see what we got a chance to do."
Paul, 6-0/175, spent last season with the Golden State Warriors, appearing in 58 games (18 starts) and averaged 9.2 points, 6.8 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.20 steals in 26.4 minutes. He finished the season with the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA (5.17).
The 19-year veteran owns career averages of 17.5 points, 9.4 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.12 steals in 34.1 minutes over 1,272 games (1,232 starts) with Golden State, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Houston, LA Clippers and New Orleans while shooting 47.1% from the field, 36.9% from three and 87.0% from the foul line. He has 15 Playoff appearances, including 13 of the last 14 where he’s averaged 20.0 points, 8.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds and made 48.4% of his shots, including 37.3% from long range.
A member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, Paul has accumulated 22,288 total points, 11,894 assists, 2,614 steals and ranks third all-time in both assists and steals, behind only Jason Kidd and John Stockton. He’s the only player in league history with at least 22,000 points, 11,000 assists and 2,500 steals, while his 4.01 career assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth-best in NBA history.
He arrives in San Antonio with 11 All-NBA and nine All-Defensive Team selections, 12 All-Star appearances, he’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2008 and 2012), MVP of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, 2005-06 Rookie of the Year and is a five-time recipient of the NBA Community Assist award to go with the 2016 Mannie Jackson Human Spirit Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Paul was originally selected by New Orleans with the fourth overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft out of Wake Forest University.