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Chris Paul passes Magic Johnson on all-time assists list in wild overtime win against Bucks

Chris Paul made NBA history on Monday night, and all it took was a simple half-court pass that led to a Devin Booker dunk,

Paul surpassed former Los Angeles Lakers star and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson on the NBA’s all-time assists list in the Phoenix Suns’ wild 128-127 overtime win against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.

“It’s a blessing man. I don’t take this stuff for granted,” he said. “[I want to] give a huge shoutout to my team, all the people that make my world go round. Seriously. 16 years, a lot of people don’t get a chance to say that.

“Magic Johnson is the GOAT when you talk about playing the point guard position. I’m honored and privileged, but s**t I ain’t done yet.”

Paul now has 10,145 career assists thanks to the 13 he had in Milwaukee, and now sits fifth on the all-time list. Johnson is sixth with 10,141.

Paul is the highest active player in the league on the list. He trails Mark Jackson by 199 assists, and sits exactly 200 assists behind Steve Nash. John Stockton still holds the all-time record with 15,806 career assists, and Jason Kidd sits in second with 12,091. LeBron James is the next closest active player on that list. He sits at eighth with nearly 9,700 assists.

At 35 years old and near the end of his career, Stockton’s record is almost certainly out of reach for Paul. Kidd’s mark could be obtainable, however that is likely a stretch too.

As for Booker, he already knows what he wants to do with the game ball that made it all possible.

“Here it is y’all.” he said. “It’s going on eBay for a million [dollars], you hear me? It’s going on eBay for a million!”

Devin Booker free throw with 0.3 seconds left seals OT win

After a tight contest throughout the night, Booker hit a free throw in the final second of the overtime period in Milwaukee to give the Suns the one point win.

In order to get to the line, though, Booker drew a foul right as the buzzer sounded.

With the game tied in overtime, Booker drove to the right wing and threw up an off-balanced shot over P.J. Tucker — who hit Booker’s arm with just 0.3 seconds left on the clock for the foul.

Booker hit the first free throw to give Phoenix the lead. Though he missed the second, the Bucks didn’t have enough time left to do anything with the ball before the clock quickly expired.

“I heard the slap,” Suns coach Monty Williams said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I was just concerned as to when it happened. I wanted to make sure it happened before the buzzer went off.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 33 points and eight rebounds on the night. Khris Middleton added 26 points and seven rebounds, and Jrue Holiday finished 25 points with eight assists.

Booker led Phoenix with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Paul put up 22 points with his 13 assists, and shot 10-of-20 from the field. Deandre Ayton added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns
Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns is fouled by P.J Tucker of the Milwaukee Bucks as he attempts the game winning shot in overtime at Fiserv Forum on April 19, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

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