Chris Paul achieves his greatest personal milestone in NBA

San Antonio Spurs veteran point guard Chris Paul moved further up the NBA's all-time assists leaderboard during Sunday's home matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. The 12-time All-Star surpassed NBA legend Jason Kidd for second in career assists, designating arguably his most impressive milestone.

Paul entered the contest trailing Kidd (12,091 assists) by just two dimes (12,089). "The Point God" tied and overtook Kidd early in the second quarter, finding teammates Harrison Barnes and Victor Wembanyama for open 3-pointers.

Paul achieved the benchmark in his 20th season, only one more than Kidd (19). Nevertheless, the five-time assists leader appears unlikely to threaten to eclipse Utah Jazz legend John Stockton for the No. 1 spot. The Hall of Famer amassed 15,806 assists across 19 campaigns, marking a seemingly unbeatable record.

However, if Paul continues his strong play for his age (39), he should be able to significantly build on his second-place lead.

Entering Sunday, Paul ranked sixth in the league in assists per game (8.5) through 23 outings.

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Chris Paul on being in same company as John Stockton on NBA's all-time assists leaderboard

While Chris Paul will likely remain entrenched in second place in all-time assists long-term, he appears honored to be mentioned alongside John Stockton.

Following Friday's 140-113 home loss to the Sacramento Kings, Paul humbly reflected on his career assists tally relative to Stockton's.

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"Yeah, it is wild," Paul said. "I mean, five years ago I had seen that number, and it's like, 'Man, (are) you going to play long enough to do that?' Seriously. I mean, I remember being a rookie ... looking up in Utah, seeing John Stockton all-time steals and assists leader. So, yeah, it is kind of crazy."

Paul added that he was "grateful for the opportunity to still continue to play" a sizable role for the upstart Spurs, who entered Sunday 11-12.

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