Chris Paul Starts All 82 Games in His 20th NBA Season

Chris Paul started for the San Antonio Spurs in their season finale on Sunday, April 13, 2025, completing 82 starts in his 20th NBA season. Nobody in league history has made 82 starts this deep into a career. The previous mark belonged to Utah's John Stockton, who started every game in his 19th and final season.

Paul turns 40 next month. He joins Stockton and Michael Jordan as the only players to appear in all 82 games at his age, the Associated Press reports. He was one of six players to start all 82 this season, alongside his Spurs teammate Harrison Barnes.

It is only the second 82-game season of his career, and he admitted the streak crept up on him:

"It's crazy. I was talking to my wife about this. When you're sort of in it, you're not really thinking about it. It's like, 'OK, it's Game 30. OK, it's Game 40something. It's game such and such.'"

"Year 20, this is only the second time in my career playing 82 games. And also playing as long as I have, I think I know how hard it is."

Paul went vegan in 2019 and has credited his plant-based diet with keeping him at the top of his game, according to VegNews. He has put his money behind it too, backing Beyond Meat, Eat Just, Koia and Wicked Kitchen, and launching his own snack brand, Good Eat'n. "To have our flavor that gives you that same nostalgia but you know that it's plant-based has been the coolest thing," he said. Durability is the point here. A 39-year-old point guard who never missed a game is about as good an answer to the protein question as you will find.

We first reported Paul's switch when he went plant-based after working on The Game Changers. Two years later he led Phoenix to his first NBA Finals, and in December he passed Jason Kidd for second on the all-time assists list.

No meat, no problem.