2021 is the beginning of a new dawn in the NBA.

Within the next few years, new faces will be ruling the biggest basketball league in the world.

However, before the new stars take over, a few older ones are still in the league and are still making history.

Today, there are only three superstars left from the 2000s era: LeBron James (36), Carmelo Anthony (37) and Chris Paul (35).

In the past few years, it’s been shown that age catches up rapidly, except to the King from Akron, apparently.

Anthony’s game has declined and has now transitioned to being a role player for Portland, while James continues to rack up rings as he chases the ghost that played in Chicago.

Paul has declined physically, too, but at the age of 35 is proving that he’s still one of the brightest, most important and most effective superstars in the league.

For the past few years, the Wake Forest University product has been chasing for that elusive NBA title and has been helping teams reach the playoffs as an effective floor general.

During his run with James Harden in Houston, they made it to the Western Conference Finals once and he put up averages of 17.1 points, 8.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals.

He was then traded to Oklahoma City and fans and critics stated that Paul’s time as a star was over. He proved everyone wrong and became the leader and the star of the Thunder squad that reached the Playoffs by clinching the fifth seed last season.

At that time, he only had a 22-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as help. He put up averages of 17.6 points, 6.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 steals in 48.9% shooting from the field.

Now, playing for Phoenix with young stars Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton as his running mates, Paul is showing that he’s still great at 35. He and James are the last stars of their kind.

The fourth overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft is proving that age is just a number and is currently playing a vital role for the Suns squad this season.

Paul and Phoenix are currently fourth in the Western Conference with a 19-10 record and he’s currently averaging 17.1 points, 8.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals on 49.5% shooting from the field and shooting at a career-high rate of 97.2% from the free-throw line.

He’s not only playing at a high level but he’s also serving as a mentor to Booker, the leading scorer of the team with 24.3 points who shoots 49.3% from the field and 37.2% from the three-point line.

Paul recently reached a great milestone in his career by surpassing the great Oscar Robertson in NBA Career Leaders in Assists.

Paul is now sixth in the All-Time list with 9,897 assists total, he’s behind Magic Johnson who has 10,141 then Mark Jackson with 10,334, Steve Nash with 10,335, Jason Kidd with 12,091 and finally John Stockton with 15,806.

Paul is still chasing that illustrious title but there is no doubt that despite approaching the latter part of his career, he will still be one of the best players in the league.

Do you think CP3 will win a title before he retires? Sound off in the comment section!