Franchise icon Hall of Famer Paul Pierce was with the Boston Celtics for 15 years, picking up All-Star appearances in 10 of those seasons. He averaged fewer than 18 points per game once during his tenure in Boston: his rookie season. The Truth was, for all intents and purposes, a stud. He almost did not come to Boston as Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote in his story on the Celtics’ legend.
Before Pierce was drafted No. 10 overall in 1998, then-head coach Rick Pitino had been targeting Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki with the pick, he told Mannix. He went as far as telling Nowitzki to skip the draft combine and called up Red Auerbach, longtime Celtics head coach, to help seal the deal.
“I went home,” said Pitino, “thinking we had our guy.”
Kevin Garnett's grandmother once got out a shotgun when a recruiter tried to bribe him https://t.co/v3XM1oyfol
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 6, 2023