Top 5 opponents of Chris Paul's NBA career

Once Chris Paul's NBA days are over, he is guaranteed to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. But before that happens, the league will have to cherish the achievements and journey of one of the best players ever.

CP3 has had a remarkable run in the last few months. Together with Devin Booker, he led the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.

In the 2021-22 season, which happens to be the 75th season in the NBA, the Point God was included in the list of 75 greatest players. And just a few days ago, he passed Mark Jackson and Steve Nash on the all-time assists ladder. With 10,346 assists, he trails only legends Jason Kidd and John Stockton for most dishes in the NBA.

The All-Star point guard has had his share of battles throughout his 17 seasons in the league. The remarkable names on this list have been part of Paul's most painful defeats and sweetest of victories.

Here are the names of well-known NBA players who gave Chris Paul a tough time in his career.

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#5 Boris Diaw (49 games. 25W - 24L)

CP3 and Boris Diaw had some memorable playoff battles in their careers in the NBA.

The affable Frenchman is probably the most unexpected name on this list. When Chris Paul entered the NBA in the 2005-06 season, Boris Diaw was just traded from the Atlanta Hawks to, ironically enough, the Phoenix Suns.

The NBA’s current assists leader was drafted by the then New Orleans Hornets, which later came to be called the Pelicans. New Orleans and Phoenix are both playing in the Western Conference, which meant that Diaw and Paul met four times in a single season.

It wasn’t with the Phoenix Suns, though, that Diaw had his best battles against Chris Paul. It was when the French superstar played for the San Antonio Spurs that their game really collided.

Overall, the two players met 49 times with Chris Paul winning 25 and losing 24 for a 51% winning record. The postseason was a different story, though. In 18 meetings, CP3 won seven games for a 38.9% record.

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#4 Stephen Curry (50 games. 22W - 28L)

Steph Curry and Chris Paul has had a long and storied rivalry in the NBA. [Photo: NBC Sports]

Steph Curry and Chris Paul are leading their respective teams right now. Curry’s standing on this list is likely to change before the season is over. The Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns are most likely going to make a deep playoff run, which adds more drama to this rivalry.

In the 50 games that they have played in both the regular season and playoffs, Chris Paul has won 22 and lost 28 times. They have had some of the most intense battles in the playoffs including Paul’s disastrous hamstring injury that could have helped the Rockets eliminate the Warriors in 2018.

Chris Paul has won nine and lost nine in the postseason against Steph Curry, though. That record could be reset again this season as another chapter of their rivalry continues.

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#3 Tim Duncan (55 games 21W - 34L)

Chris Paul has had some painful losses at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan at the helm.

Chris Paul has looked up to the Big Fundamental, ever since the legendary Hall of Fame big man was still playing college basketball at Wake Forest. Paul followed Tim Duncan’s footsteps all the way from college to the NBA.

CP3 entered the NBA as a rookie when Tim Duncan was at the peak of his powers. In his prime, TD was just so unbelievably good that he carried the dynastic Spurs to the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. Standing in the way of Duncan’s quest for greatness were Chris Paul’s various teams throughout the years.

Tim Duncan has inflicted some of the most stinging defeats in CP3’s basketball career. In 2008, the up-and-coming New Orleans Pelicans were dismissed on their home floor in a Game 7 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Ditto in 2012 when the ultra-athletic, aggressive and flamboyant Los Angeles Clippers were reminded of their place in the Western Conference hierarchy. Gregg Popovich’s team thoroughly outplayed the Clippers with a 4-0 thrashing.

Chris Paul got one back, though. He hit the game-winning shot against the Spurs in the first round of the 2015 postseason. Tim Duncan was by then 38 years old and was hardly jumping off the ground to score, rebound and block shots.

Overall, Chris Paul was 21-34 against Duncan, including 7-11 in the playoffs. In fact, Duncan’s record is the best against Paul so far, but in only 55 games.

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#2 Manu Ginobili (56 games 23W - 33L)

CP3 and Manu Ginobili competed both in the NBA and on the world stage.

Manu Ginobili was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 as a 22-year old rookie. However, it was only in 2002 that he started playing in the NBA. Like Duncan, Ginobili was a fixture in Chris Paul’s schedule, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.

Unlike Duncan, though, the greatest basketball player from Argentina had to cover Chris Paul to some degree. Ginobili was the Spurs resident shooting guard and had to take on Paul from time to time. Their battles have always been competitive, but fair.

CP3, who is also known for his impeccable defense, had to guard Manu on the other end as well. Ginobili’s unorthodox and gung-ho style often caught opponents off-guard. Several times in his career, Chris Paul had to keep tabs on Ginobili's basketball wizardry.

Paul’s 7-11 record against Manu in the playoffs is the same as Timmy’s. That Chris Paul did quite well against the Spurs in some of their best years is evident to the All-Star guard’s greatness.

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#1 Tony Parker (60 games 26W - 34 losses)

Tony Parker and Chris Paul have played a total of 60 games against each other with the former getting the majority of the wins.

No one has played more games against Chris Paul in the NBA than Tony Parker. These two NBA greats went at it for 60 games in total, with the former winning 26 and losing 34. The numbers failed to capture just how hard they played and competed against each other.

As the point guard of their respective teams, Chris Paul and Tony Parker were basically going full blast against each other for most of the time. CP3 was the cerebral type who could dominate opposing point guards on offense and defense. Parker was the talented Frenchman who relied more on his quickness and ability to get shots off in traffic to cause problems.

Chris Paul’s numbers have always been better than Tony Parker’s. Parker, though, has four NBA championships while Paul has yet to win one. The Spurs’ Hall of Fame talent allowed Parker more victories and championships than Point God.