When it comes to assists, Chris Paul is as good as it gets. He’s the NBA’s active leader in career assists with nearly 9,000, and he ranks third all-time in assists per game at 9.8. The Houston Rockets’ point guard has made a living out of being a facilitator — someone who makes everyone around him better.

But Paul’s greatest assists don’t typically come on the court. They’re the kind of assists that are largely overlooked by the general public but are powerful enough to improve entire communities. And many of these assists happen right here in Winston-Salem, a place the nine-time NBA All-Star says “will always be home to me.”

“Winston-Salem is who I am,” says Paul, 34, who graduated from West Forsyth in 2003. “My teammates, my friends, my coaches, they all know where I’m from. I’m proud to be here. So when I get a chance to give back, that’s what I’m going to do.

“When it comes to Winston-Salem, I’m all in.”

In this case, being “all in” means finding meaningful ways to give back to the city through his foundation, the Chris Paul Family Foundation (aka the CP3 Foundation). Over the past decade, the foundation has given millions to local causes while also providing scholarship money each year for a Forsyth County senior to attend Wake Forest.