The LA Clippers presented point guard Chris Paul at Intuit Dome on Monday, one week after signing the 20-year NBA veteran to a minimum contract to rejoin the franchise he led from 2011 to 2017.
Paul’s family, based in LA since Paul was traded to the Clippers from New Orleans in December 2011, was in the front row. While the 40-year-old Paul could choose to end his career after this season, it is not something he is committing to now.
“Please don’t,” Paul joked when asked about possibly retiring. “I’m just in it, to tell you the truth. I’m still in it. Day in and day out, enjoying it, right?… It’s been really cool to be around my family and know that the countdown hasn’t started for me to leave again. So I think that’s what I’m most happy and thinking about right now.”
Paul’s family was the biggest reason for him returning to the Clippers after spending the previous eight seasons in Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Golden State and San Antonio. But Paul also said it was a “no-brainer” for him to come back to the Clippers, regardless of what his role was going to be. Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said Paul’s role would be as a reserve point guard, and Paul is happy to accept it — even after starting all 82 games last season with the Spurs, becoming the first player in NBA history to do so in his 20th season.
“It’s a lot of people who will try to tell your story for you,” Paul said. “I was actually on vacation with my family, and you see all the stories (of) people saying, ‘He’ll only go here if he’s starting’ or if he is doing this. I think for me, the gratitude that I have for being able to play as long as I’ve had, I think the easiest decision in this is sitting right up here, right here with my family. It’s getting a chance to be around them and be around a lot more. And get a chance to compete and play for a championship.
“My role on this team is obviously different than it’s been the past 20 years being in the NBA. But showing up every day, if I can show some of the guys what it looks like every day to clock in and clock out, I’m excited for it,” Paul added.
Paul thanked the Spurs for giving him the opportunity to play last season — particularly the Holt family, who own the team, CEO R.C. Buford, president and former head coach Gregg Popovich, head coach Mitch Johnson and Paul’s teammates.
“Without this past year in San Antonio — if that doesn’t happen, I don’t have this opportunity to actually come back here and play this year,” Paul said Monday. “So thank you so much to the Spurs and their organization.”
Paul mentioned that throughout the years, he “wanted to get back and play here by any means necessary.” After the news conference, Paul was escorted to a homecoming event at the arena, where he was greeted by Clippers fans and season ticket holders. As he was introduced by broadcaster Brian Sieman, Paul was overcome with emotion.
Chris Paul breaking down after @BSieman introduces him to the fans at Intuit Dome, something CP3 was not expecting pic.twitter.com/BkIuKE0jzd
— Law Murray 🎡 (@LawMurrayTheNU) July 28, 2025
“If you watch me, I play with a different type of chip on my shoulder and a passion,” Paul told the fans. “But there’s an emptiness that I was missing. And so I’m excited to really be back here and get a chance to play for the Clippers.”
Paul’s return to the Clippers is a full-circle moment for a franchise that never won 60 percent of its games in a season before his arrival — and now has the league’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons, a run that began with his first in 2011-12. While Paul doesn’t take credit for the Clippers becoming more of a destination franchise, he acknowledges that it is meaningful being on a team with Kawhi Leonard and former Rockets teammate James Harden, among other accomplished players.
“It’s been a lot of guys here who’ve done a great job in shifting the culture and making it what it is now, and all the people here that played a role in this,” Paul said. “I mean, you got to think about it: the colors are different. The logo is different. But a lot of the fans have remained the same. So I think that’s what I’m most excited about, is getting here, getting a chance to play alongside Kawhi. Kawhi has been here with that culture change and all that. Bringing in James and all these different guys, so I’m excited.”
Paul mentioned that this is the time for players to enjoy the offseason, and so his communication with his new teammates has been brief. He worked out with new Clippers guard Bradley Beal in Augusta, Ga., during EYBL Nike Peach Jam, which was won by Beal’s team. Paul addressed his reunion with Harden after the two parted ways in 2019, when Paul was traded from the Rockets to the Thunder. Paul acknowledged clips that showed tension between the two when they were teammates during the 2018-19 season.
“We talked about it and, you know, talked about just, you know, the history of obviously being there in Houston,” Paul said. “And it’s funny, man, because that clip or whatnot that goes around, it was a lot of stuff funnier and stuff like that than that. That was just sort of our relationship. You know, but I think that’s what made that team so good. You know we got on each other in different situations.
“But that team, I can honestly say, it was one of the funnest teams I’ve ever been on in my career, and James is one of those guys that loves to be in the gym all day long. And so it’s wild that you get this opportunity again after those two years and the success that we had, and we definitely know we had unfinished business. So we get a chance to see what’s going on here.”
As Paul enters next season, he realizes that much has changed, including his perspective and place in Clippers franchise history. He’ll wear his number again, but much else has changed. And he appreciates what it means to play at Intuit Dome not as an opponent, but now as a representative of the organization.
“This isn’t where we played, right?” Paul said. “I’ve watched the building of this building. I watched, I think, the first preseason game that was played here. I’ve paid attention to all of this. You don’t have any choice, right? All of us that really have memories and ties to this team, for most guys, I don’t care where you go, if you’ve been with a team and you’re that invested, you may go other places. But this will always be special to me.”
(Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
