The Truth: 5 facts on the retiring Paul Pierce

The Los Angeles Clippers bowed out of the playoffs in Game 7 after the Utah Jazz earned another road victory on Sunday, April 30 (Monday Manila time), 104-91. 

Disappointment filled the air as the final buzzer sounded. However, in the sea of blank-faced people filing out of the arena, there was one face with a small and seemingly out-of-place smile: Paul Pierce. 

Perhaps the 19-year veteran has found peace as the buzzer signaled the end of his legendary career, as he declared last summer that this season will be his last. He hugged teammates, opponents and coaching staff as the crowd who stayed gave him the rousing ovation he deserved. 

As we celebrate the retirement of one of the greatest scorers to ever play, let us take a look at some facts that you may not have known from The Truth.

 

1. He led the Celtics to their first playoff appearance in 7 years since the disbandment of the original “Big Three”

Before Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, there was the original Celtics Big Three of now-Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The trio would win multiple championships together and breathed new life and excitement into the legendary NBA team. 

However, due to recurring back problems, the Celtic hero Bird retired after winning the 1992 Olympic gold medal with the original “Dream Team.” McHale would retire the following year as well and Parish was traded the next season to the Charlotte Hornets. 

After that, the 17-time champion franchise did not make the playoffs until 2002, when Pierce, the 10th pick of the 1998 draft, led the team all the way to the conference finals. This feat hadn’t been done since 1988, the last time the Celtics fought and lost in the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. 

It would take 21 long years before they returned to the finals, aptly against the Lakers once again. This time, Pierce completed the task of taking down their bitterest cross-country rivals en route to his only championship and Finals Most Valuable Player award.

 

2. He closes out his career with 9 straight playoff appearances since his last title 

Pierce never looked back since reaching the top of the mountain in 2008. Playoff success followed him wherever he went, whether as a member of the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards or the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Game 7 against the Utah Jazz marked his 170th playoff game, appropriately moving past McHale for 25th in the NBA all-time leaders in playoff game appearances.

 

3. He came close to going scoreless for the first time in his final game in Boston 

Whether as a friend or foe, there was one thing constant for Pierce inside the famed TD Garden in Boston: He never went scoreless in a game inside that arena.

However, he came close to breaking that 19-year record in his final appearance in Boston last February 5, 2017. With the game already decided for the Celtics, he was sent back into the game with less than a minute remaining, amid thunderous “We want Paul!” chants.  

Pierce squared up and sank a 3 for his lone field goal of the game, much to the approval of the Boston faithful. The Clippers lost, but Pierce and all of Boston were all smiles in the end.

 

4. He is one of 3 players to record more than 20,000 points and 40,000 minutes for Boston

Just behind John Havlicek’s 26,395 points lies Pierce as Boston’s second-leading scorer with 24,021. With around 3,000 points less, Bird rounds up the Celtics’ 20,000-point club with 21,791.

As for the minutes, Havlicek once again leads with 46,471, followed by 11-time champion Bill Russell with 40,726. Pierce is the third and last to barely clinch the 40,000-minute mark with 40,360. 

The player closest to surpassing Pierce’s records? Avery Bradley, with 5008 points in 11,619 minutes. It’s safe to say he has a long, long way to go.

 

5. He was stabbed 11 times in 2000 and yet was the only Celtic to play all 82 games the following season

Most die-hard NBA and Celtics fans are aware of this story by now, but for the uninitiated, let us take you back to September 25, 2000.

Pierce was then just a third-year upstart who happened to be at the Buzz Club in Boston when a fight broke out. In his attempt to stop the scuffle, he had a bottle smashed on his head and was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck and back. 

After having surgery, he came back and played all 82 games like he didn’t nearly die.

15 years later, the Clippers decided to do a bit of stabbing on their own: 

 

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An amazing 19 years of basketball greatness are now in the history books. Through and through, The Truth did always prevail. – Rappler.com