Why did Paul, who has scored 23,000 points in his career, have the highest score in his career, only 43 points?

As one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, although he has not been able to win the championship so far, Paul has created many legends in his past 20 years of career, especially now he is 40 years old, but he is still active in the NBA arena, which is definitely worthy of everyone's respect. However, looking back at Paul's NBA career, although he has never been known for his explosive scoring ability, he has played for a total of 20 seasons and scored 23,000 points in his personal score, but the highest score in his personal career is only 43 points, which is indeed a bit unsuccessful. So why has Paul never been able to score 50+? Let’s find out below!

1. Organization is the top priority, and scores are only auxiliary means.

First of all, it must be clear that the NBA today has broken the rules due to the advent of the small ball era, and many players who play No. 1 are not completely traditional point guards. Like Luca Doncic, Shea Gilgers Alexander, and Stephen Curry, their responsibilities and roles have far exceeded the level that a point guard should have. Paul entered the NBA as early as 2005. He always focused on organizing and passing. Whether in the early days, the Hornets, Clippers, or later the Rockets and Suns, unless the team cannot open up the situation or the tactical system requirements, he rarely appears as the end point of the team. If you look at Paul's career data carefully, he averaged 17 points, 4.4 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game. His number of assists is much better than his own score. In the traditional basketball philosophy of point guards represented by Paul, the weight of independent scoring can never be as good as the organization's connection, which is an important reason why he has never gotten 50+.

2. Have a reliable partner for a long time, and you don’t need to pay too much attention to the score.

In addition, one thing I have to say is that there are always partners around Paul who are worth relying on. Of course, this does not mean that Paul is not capable, but in the team's tactical system, these partners need to pay attention to scoring, and Paul is undoubtedly the fuel tank that helps them "take off". During the Hornets, David West, who was partnered with Paul, maintained a 20+10 data contribution for a long time. Later, when they arrived at the Clippers, they had Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in the interior. With the blessing of Paul, they both achieved the most peak performance in their careers, and the Clippers also became the "Air-Catching City". Later, in the Rockets, he partnered with James Harden, the first shooting guard at the time. During the Suns, DeAndre Aiton inside and Devin Booker outside, so Paul naturally devoted most of his energy to helping them score. And it was also because of their partner with Paul that they all performed the most outstanding performance in their careers, among which Harden was completely liberated and won the only MVP in his career. It can be seen how valuable Paul is!

3. The scoring ability is relatively stable, but lacks explosive ability.

Finally, let’s talk about another reason why Paul was unable to get 50+, that is, his lack of explosive scoring methods. Paul's stability on the offensive end is not only reflected in his superb passing skills and control rhythm, but his scoring ability is also very stable. However, if you look closely at Paul's scoring method, you will find that he is too stable, so stable that it is difficult to explode. The signature mid-range shot after pick-and-roll, misaligned military training to play the center, and a certain three-point shooting constitute most of Paul's scoring methods, which is enough to help him stably deliver 20-30 points in his personal score per game, but it will be very difficult to get him to score high points. As a defender, although Paul has three-point shots, he does not shoot a lot, and he rarely forcefully pulls up the shot like Curry, Klay Thompson, and Damian Lillard, but relies heavily on open spaces and rhythm. In addition, his ability to make a basket is also insufficient, with only 4.7 free throws per game, which is far lower than the data of top scorers, so with these factors combined, Paul naturally missed the 50+.