Spurs forward's gesture allows Chris Paul to keep career-long tradition

Future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul signed a one-year, $11M deal to join the San Antonio Spurs in the offseason.

Thanks to a recent gesture from Spurs small forward Keldon Johnson, Paul can continue to wear the familiar No. 3 jersey that he's worn his entire career, dating back to college.

The 12-time All-Star wore the single-digit uniform for both of his standout seasons at Wake Forest, where he led the ACC in steals twice, was the conference Rookie of the Year and was named first-team All-Defense both campaigns.

Paul was selected by the New Orleans Hornets with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft and spent six seasons with the franchise. He was the 2005-06 Rookie of the Year, led the league in both assists and steals per game in back-to-back years from 2007-09, was a four-time All-Star and MVP runner-up (among other accolades) once during his run with the Hornets, all while wearing No. 3.

Since then, he's played for the Los Angeles Clippers (2011-17), Houston Rockets (2017-19), Oklahoma City Thunder (2019-2020), Phoenix Suns (2020-23) and Golden State Warriors (2023-24) and been able to keep No. 3. CP3's widely regarded as one of the best point guards in NBA history, leading the league in steals six times and assists on five occasions, while collecting 11 All-NBA honors and nine All-Defensive nods.

Paul is one of the best players in league history without a title, despite being a part of multiple championship-caliber squads. The 39-year-old will be entering his 20th season in the fall and has made the playoffs 15 times with five different teams in his career, yet he has only made the conference finals twice and the NBA Finals once.

Paul said last year that the lack of a ring was even having a negative impact on his elementary school-aged daughter in school.

While San Antonio is a popular pick to see a drastic improvement from its 2023-24 campaign and has reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama to pair with Paul, it'd be a miracle to see the squad go from 22 wins to the NBA Finals. The "Point God" may have to wait another year for a chance at that elusive championship, but at least he'll allow fans to keep purchasing his No. 3 jersey.