Chris Paul has revealed that the greatest moment of his sports career came before he reached the NBA, when he scored 61 points in honor of his late grandfather.
Paul, who went on to become one of the most accomplished point guards in NBA history, shared the story of his senior-year performance while explaining the personal meaning behind the number 61. His grandfather was 61 years old when he died.
“My grandfather was 61 years old when he died,” Paul said. “The first game of my senior year, I had 59 points in the game.”
Paul then described the sequence that gave him the opportunity to reach 61 points. He drove to the lane, made a floater and was fouled, putting him at 61 points.
“I went to the free throw line,” Paul recalled. “The state record for the most points in a game was 67 points, held by Michael Jordan. But I had 61.”
Rather than attempting to chase Jordan’s state scoring record, Paul intentionally ended the game at 61 points. He threw the ball out of bounds from the free-throw line and immediately walked off the court to embrace his father.
“I went to the free throw line, I threw the ball out of bounds, and walked off the court and hugged my dad,” Paul said.
The moment became one of the defining memories of Paul’s basketball life, carrying significance far beyond the number in the box score. It also preceded a career that would establish him as one of the NBA’s premier point guards and a perennial All-Star.
Paul played two seasons at Wake Forest before entering the NBA in 2005. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists while shooting 46.0% from the field, 50.0% from three-point range and 83.6% from the free-throw line.
He quickly became a major NBA contributor with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, averaging 16.1 points and 7.8 assists as a rookie before increasing those numbers to 21.1 points and 11.6 assists in his third season.
Paul’s statistical peak came during the 2008-09 season, when he averaged 22.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 11.0 assists in 78 games. He later produced several more elite seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, including 19.1 points and 10.7 assists in 2013-14.
Even after his scoring numbers declined later in his career, Paul remained an effective playmaker. He averaged 7.4 assists in 82 games for the San Antonio Spurs in 2024-25 before joining the Los Angeles Clippers again for the 2025-26 season.
His NBA career has produced countless memorable performances, but Paul considers none more meaningful than the 61-point game that connected his basketball success directly to the memory of his grandfather.
