After converting an "and one" late in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Chris Paul surpassed Magic Johnson on a dusty page in the record books. With 20 points and 11 assists, Paul registered a double-double for the 12th straight game to start the season, breaking Johnson's record, set in 1990-91.
Get used to hearing Paul displacing Johnson's standing in history, because Paul already is on pace to be the best point guard to ever step foot in the league. At least he is statistically. The sad thing is that almost no one even realizes this is happening.
I know what you're thinking: "Better than Magic? Paul has never even been to the NBA Finals. He's never even won an MVP. How dare you stomp on Magic's legacy!"
Stomp on this: Paul has the highest player efficiency rating of any point guard in history (25.6) and considerably higher than Johnson (23.5). And if you look at win shares, which estimates the number of wins a player contributes to the bottom line, it tells the same story. Just 12 games into his ninth season, Paul already has more career win shares than Johnson had through nine seasons.