Retired NBA star Chris Paul addressed Morehouse College’s Class of 2026, pulling from his life and NBA experience to encourage them on their journey. Before the speech started, Paul was conferred an honorary doctorate. He joked about how he wants to be known as “Dr. Chris Paul.”
“Henceforth and forevermore, I would like to be referred to as Dr. Paul… Dr. Chris, Dr. CP3… I don’t care. Just don’t leave off the doctor.”
He then went into his speech, urging the graduates to remember that Morehouse prepared them to walk into any room and be successful.
“There will be plenty of rooms that you walk into where you’re going to be the only person that looks like you. Morehouse prepared you for those rooms. Now my challenge to you is to not build a wall. It’s to build a bigger table.”
He also emphasized mentorship and collective fellowship amongst the graduates.
“Look to your mentors. They can come in many forms — coaches, parents, professors. It could even be someone to your left or your right. Look around you. This is an amazing network for you all. Lean on each other. Counsel each other. Rely on each other. Protect each other.”
During the address, he mentioned his grandfather, his father, and his former Wake Forest University coach, Skip Prosser, to speak about perseverance and resiliency.
“These men showed me that one of the most important things you can do in life is just to always show up. Through heartbreak. Rejection. Failure. Grief. Whatever it is. Just always find a way to show up. Remember, you don’t always get credit for the battles you fight privately, but your presence as Morehouse men proves that you have won enough to keep moving forward.”
He specifically zeroed in on Prosser and a moment at Wake Forest where Prosser benched him, using it to talk about the importance of embracing personal accountability.
“He benched me that day for the first time in my career. Not because I was injured. Not because I was missing shots. But because I didn’t hold myself accountable. And accountability is where everything starts and ends.”
He then urged the graduates to embrace discipline and hard work.
“Are you going to be a 3-to-6 guy or are you going to be a 6-to-3 guy? … Do you only put in the work when you have to? When it’s convenient? When everybody’s watching? When the lights are bright and shining? Or are you self-motivated and ready to do the work when no one is watching? You know why? Because that is the price of greatness. That’s what it takes to be different.”
In one of the more interesting portions of the speech where he directly spoke about his NBA experience, he spoke about leading the NBA Players Association in 2020, amid the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest around the nation. He used the moment to talk about leadership through the fire.
“Hard conversations throughout my tenure made me a few enemies here and there. Guys — even both openly and behind closed doors — questioned my leadership, including a few fellas that I called my friends. But the mission was bigger than me. It was never about me. It was always for the collective. I kept the main thing the main thing.”
To close out the speech, he re-emphasized that hard work, accountability, and service will ultimately guide the Morehouse College graduates to lead successful lives.
“Legacies are defined by how hard you work, how accountable you are, and the lives you throw to others. Go forth Morehouse men and make us proud.”
Retired NBA star Chris Paul addressed Morehouse College’s Class of 2026, pulling from his life and NBA experience to encourage them on their journey. Before the speech started, Paul was conferred an honorary doctorate. He joked about how he wants to be known as “Dr. Chris Paul. ” “Henceforth and forevermore, I would like to be referred to as Dr.
