LeBron James on meeting Chris Paul in high school

Robert Marvi, LeBron WireWed, June 3, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC

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LeBron James on meeting Chris Paul in high school

The careers of some of the best NBA players from the 2000s and 2010s are starting to wind down. While LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are still playing at a superstar level, all three appear to be nearing their inevitable retirements. Over the last several years, the balance of power in the league has shifted over to men such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and, of course, Victor Wembanyama.

Chris Paul, who was arguably the best point guard in the NBA for many years starting in the late 2000s, just retired after an illustrious 21-year career in the league. While he never won a championship, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and his resume is almost as great as that of any point guard in basketball history.

On a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, James flashed back to the time he met Paul when both were in high school and praised Paul as one of the best ever to play his position.

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"Fast forward to my senior year in high school, we're playing in Greensboro, North Carolina during HBCU weekend," James said. "There's a tournament down there, St. Vincent-St. Mary's goes down there and we're playing a team out of North Carolina. We win that game and Chris Paul comes into the locker room and that's the first time I officially met him.

"I was 17, I think he was 16. He was the best point guard in North Carolina at the time. I believe he was playing in that tournament, I believe his high school played in that tournament. But he came to the locker room, we met and from then on we kind of started like a friendship. To us playing in the McDonald's game together. To me supporting him while he was at Wake Forest. To him coming into the league. Olympic teammates.

"I mean it's incredible what he was able to do in all the stops he was in. New Orleans, with the Clippers obviously, I think his jersey is gonna be raised with the Clippers some day. Even his short time in Houston, making an impact there. His Finals appearance with Phoenix, and so on and so on. He's definitely gonna go down as one of the best point guards that's ever played this game, one of the most fierce competitors to ever play this game. And to add the icing to the cake, his daughter and my daughter happen to be best friends and that's pretty cool."

In his prime, Paul was a player who had virtually no weaknesses. His 16.8 points per game average for his career may not be very impressive, but he could drop 30 points in any given contest, especially come playoff time. He led the league in assists per game five times, and he was also a strong defender who led everyone in steals per game six times. Paul is currently second in career assists with 12,552 (James is in fourth place with 12,016 assists).

Of course, Paul and James have been tight for many years, and they formed one-half of the so-called "Banana Boat Crew" that includes Carmelo Anthony and James' former Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on meeting Chris Paul in high school

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Source: “AOL Sports”