Magic Johnson’s glowing praise after Chris Paul surpasses Jason Kidd

San Antonio Spurs floor general Chris Paul made history against his former team in the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. He totaled two steals in that contest, and with that, passed former star guard Jason Kidd on the career steals leaderboard.

Paul is No. 2 all time in steals with a whopping 2,686, but it seems unlikely that he will pass former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton and become the all-time leader. He would need to rack up more than 500 additional steals before the end of his pro career, and he’s already among the NBA’s oldest players at 39.

Still, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson congratulated Paul on his steals feat with a post on X.

Johnson ranks among the all-time leaders in steals as well. He has totaled the 23rd most of any player in NBA history, and it’s worth noting that his pro career was significantly shorter than Paul’s.

Along with a pair of steals, Paul also contributed a double-double of 13 points and 10 assists versus forward Kevin Durant and company, and the Spurs picked up a win in their first game since the All-Star break.

Paul has had a knack for coming up with steals for the entirety of his NBA career, and the amount of times he’s led the league in steals per contest fortifies that notion. The guard has a whopping six steals titles, and three of them came during his time with the New Orleans Hornets, while the other three came when he was with the Los Angeles Clippers. He most recently averaged a league-high in that stat in the 2013-14 season when he played for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Even at his advanced age, he’s averaging 1.4 steals per game this season.

It should be exciting to find out how much closer Paul will be to Stockton’s steals record at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. The Spurs still have 29 games left in their season, and Paul could rack up quite a few more steals in that time, assuming he can continue to stay healthy. He hasn’t sat out a game for San Antonio yet this season.