Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul is a millionaire today, but his pockets weren’t always this full. Paul wasn’t swimming in cash in his youth, and he once spoke about how his life changed after he declared for the 2005 NBA Draft on The Shop.
“I’m in the league when I was 19,” Paul said. “I had $151 in my bank account as a college student. I declared for the draft, got an agent. The agent offered me $100,000 upfront money. Luckily, I had two parents, and they was like, ‘That’s too damn much, right?’ But they said $25,000 [is] cool. So you know what happened?
“I was at Wake in Winston, I went up to the bank right up the street just so I could see what the statement looked like,” Paul continued. “… We ain’t never had no money like this. I went and got the statement that said $25,151. Right there, though. No education came along with it, right?”
Paul revealed that the first thing he did with the money was go to the mall with his girlfriend and his friends. He told all of them to get something they wanted, but soon came to the realization about some facts as well.
“At 19, now everybody looking at you as being the head of your household,” Paul stated. “… And now, also, you want me to try to be the best basketball player I gotta be. And I gotta learn how to deal with the media. And I got everybody asking me for this and that.”
To Paul’s credit, he appears to have managed everything well both on and off the court. The 40-year-old is currently in his 21st season in the NBA, and while he hasn’t won a championship, he has had a career he could be proud of.
Paul, whom the New Orleans Hornets selected with the fourth pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, has made 12 All-Star, 11 All-NBA, and nine All-Defensive teams. He was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team in 2021 and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Being at the top for this long has also meant that Paul will have made about $404 million in salaries by the time he retires after this season, according to Spotrac. We have heard stories about athletes squandering their wealth, but he doesn’t fall into that category.
According to Forbes, Paul has built up an impressive business empire. He unveiled a new entity, The Chris Paul Collective, earlier this year. It will house his various companies, investments, and non-profit organization, The Chris Paul Family Foundation.
Among Paul’s notable investments are a minority stake in Angel City FC, the most valuable franchise in the NWSL, and his stake in the recovery technology company Hyperice, which reached a valuation of $850 million in 2022. He isn’t going to be short on cash for the rest of his life.
As for the home front, Paul married Jada, his high school sweetheart, in 2011. They are still together and have two children, Chris Jr. and Camryn. It’s all going well, no matter where you look.
