Milestone: Suns’ Chris Paul first NBA player ever with 20k points and 10k assists

With his basket in the second quarter of the game between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers on ESPN, Suns point guard Chris Paul became the first player ever to accumulate 20,000 points and 10,000 assists in a single career.

Let me repeat: no NBA player has ever reached the 20k/10k threshold with points and assists.

Throughout history, Hall of Famers John Stockton (19.7k, 15.8k), Oscar Robertson (26.7k, 9.8k) and Gary Payton (21.8k, 8.9k) came close to reaching the 20/10 club.

Among active players, the Lakers’ LeBron James is 299 assists short of 10,000 which puts him on track to reach the same milestone at some point later this season, while Laker teammate Russell Westbrook is almost 2,000 assists short of the mark meaning he would need almost three more seasons of 10+ assists per game to join CP3 and LBJ. No other

Paul, 37 years old, is beginning his 17th season in the NBA but has shown few signs of slowing down. Last season he played so well at age 36 that he made the All-Star team, second-team All-NBA, received the 5th most MVP votes and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his career.

Last season, he took over 5th place all time in career assists and also ranks 5th all-time in career steals.

• First with 20,000 points and 10,000 assists
• 5th all-time in assists
• 5th all-time in steals

It’s no surprise that just this week, the NBA named Paul as one of the league’s 75 greatest players ever as part of the league’s celebration of its 75th anniversary as a professional basketball league. Paul joins four other Suns — Steve Nash, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd — on the list.

This offseason, Paul signed a new four year, $120 million contract ($75 million guaranteed) to continue playing for the Phoenix Suns for the remainder of his storied career.

Of the Top 75 All-Time, only Steve Nash spent more than four seasons of their career with the Suns. Paul would notch five seasons if he plays out the whole contract and already joins Nash and Barkley in calling their Suns tenure the best seasons of their career.