Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, an NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, two Olympic gold medals, and led the NBA in assists four times and steals six times. He has also been selected to ten NBA All-Star teams, eight All-NBA teams, and nine NBA All-Defensive teams. Paul was a McDonald's All-American in high school. He attended Wake Forest University for two years of college basketball, where he helped the Demon Deacons achieve their first-ever number one ranking. He was selected fourth overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets, where he developed into one of the league's premier players, finishing second in NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting in 2008. During the 2011 offseason, Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, only for the transaction to be controversially voided by the NBA. Later that summer, he was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers instead. Behind Paul's playmaking, the Clippers developed a reputation for their fast-paced offense and spectacular alley-oop dunks, earning them the nickname "Lob City". In 2017, he was traded to the Houston Rockets, and helped the team win a franchise-record 65 games in his debut season. He played one more season there before being traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook on July 16, 2019. Off the court, Paul has served as the National Basketball Players Association president since August 2013. One of the highest-paid athletes in the world, he holds endorsement deals with companies such as Air Jordan and State Farm.