In Washington, Chris Paul stepped onto the NBA arena for the first time in 53 days. He played 22 minutes and had nine points, four rebounds, six assists and four steals as the Warriors beat the Wizards. Paul is still athletic, and his comeback has had an immediate effect.
Paul will turn 39 on May 6 this year, and his 1.83-meter body has accumulated a lot of NBA miles: 42,667 minutes in 1,246 regular season games and 5,442 minutes in 149 playoff games. 1,236 regular-season games is the 36th all-time, and 149 playoff games are the 47th all-time. Paul ranks 24th all-time in regular season minutes and 40th all-time playoff minutes. So when he played the Pistons on January 5 and Paul suffered a broken hand, many Warriors fans had already accepted it calmly, and it was normal for an old comrade to be injured at this age.
Paul has played 32 games this season, averaging 276 minutes to get 89 points 38 rebounds and 72 assists. After nearly eight weeks of rest, Paul not only recovered from his injury, but also gained valuable time to rest. So it is expected that for the remaining 25 regular season games, Paul should be able to play healthy.
Paul's role is rarely mentioned now? In the Clippers, he tried to be a big core with the ball, but he failed. And this season with the Warriors, Paul is a hidden team glue, similar to the roles of Caruso, Reaves, and Podzemski. Ideally, Paul would be able to play the rest of the game.
Paul's $30 million contract for next season is not guaranteed, which means he'll be a free agent in the summer of 2024. From a cost-effective perspective, the Warriors couldn't possibly exercise this option, so Paul was soon a free agent. You don't know if he'll play until he's 40, so this could be the last day of Paul's career.