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Spurs Had Chris Paul Tearing Up With Sweet Gift Celebrating His Historic Assist

Chris Paul had a classy message for his Spurs teammates after passing Jason Kidd on the NBA’s assists list.

Stephen Douglas

Chris Paul waves to fans after moving to #2 on the all-time assists list.
Chris Paul waves to fans after moving to #2 on the all-time assists list. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
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Chris Paul passed Jason Kidd on the NBA's all-time assists leaders list on Sunday during the San Antonio Spurs' win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The game was stopped to honor Paul for his accomplishment, but the Spurs kept the celebration going in the locker room after the game.

With Gregg Popovich still away from the team, interim head coach Mitch Johnson presented Paul with some gifts including a commemorative basketball to go along with the game ball and a plaque featuring pictures of Paul and the names of every teammate he'd ever assisted in an NBA game. With over 12,000 assists, it's quite a list.

Paul was touched by the gesture and teared up while addressing the team.

"I can't say nothing but thank you, man," said Paul. "Seriously, I know i'm hard to deal with a lot of times. I swear I'm so grateful. You know. Being away from my family, y'all became my family and so I know I'm a lot to deal with on the court, but I just love to hoop and I hope that y'all get an opportunity to play as long as I have. So thank y'all so much."

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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