THE FUSE

On Feb. 13, 2026, Chris Paul announced the end of a basketball life that had lasted 21 seasons, and the announcement carried a familiar ache. He was retiring as one of the finest point guards the game has ever produced, a 12-time All-Star who sat near the top of the league's all-time lists for assists and steals, and he was doing it without ever having won a championship. The ring, the one prize that eluded him, had become the defining absence of an otherwise complete career.