Now immortalized in basketball’s Mount Olympus — the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame located in Springfield, Massachusetts — Boston Celtics legendary small forward Paul Pierce is undeniably ensconced among the greatest to ever play the game. But where, exactly, do we place his star in the wider constellation of players to decorate the sky that is the Hall?
Is he among the 100 greatest to play the game? The 75 best, or even 50 top players in basketball history? We imagine we can guess where someone with an indomitable will to compete like The Truth might rank himself, but what is an objective take on where we should place him among the best of the best?
Watch the latest edition of the CLNS Media podcast “Celtics Beat” to hear the thoughts of the hosts Evan Valenti and Adam Kaufman, along with special guest Ian Thomsen.
Has the Eastern Conference returned to its former glory?
The Eastern Conference is getting deeper. The Boston Celtics are the clear-cut favorite to return to the NBA Finals next season. However, multiple teams in the East can push the Celtics to the limit, especially after another active free-agency period. The Philadelphia 76ers created a new big three with their addition of Paul George. The New York Knicks are among the best defensive teams in the NBA following their acquisition of Mikal Bridges.
The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic are exciting young teams that play a distinct brand of basketball and will continue to improve with internal development. And, of course, the Milwaukee Bucks have one of the best duos in the NBA.
In a recent episode of “KG Certified,” Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce discuss whether the Eastern Conference is returning to its former glory of being a deep and challenging conference after multiple years of being a clear tier below the West.
You can watch the full segment by clicking on the embedded link above.
On Oct. 13, 1977, a Hall of Fame player was born in Oakland, California. While that player grew up a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers from his Inglewood, California, home, fate made the University of Kansas star a Boston Celtics legend.
If you have not yet guessed who we are speaking of, it is, of course, iconic Celtics small forward Paul Pierce, recently admitted to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame on his first ballot. To celebrate the career of The Truth (as Pierce is often called), we present this collection of the 34 best plays of his career — one for every number of his jersey with Boston.
And while some are not with the Celtics (given he played with the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers after winning a title in Boston with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen), all of them are worth a watch, courtesy of the NBA’s YouTube channel.
Now immortalized in basketball’s Mount Olympus — the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame located in Springfield, Massachusetts — Boston Celtics legendary small forward Paul Pierce is undeniably ensconced among the greatest to ever play the game. But where, exactly, do we place his star in the wider constellation of players to decorate the sky that is the Hall?
Is he among the 100 greatest to play the game? The 75 best, or even 50 top players in basketball history? We imagine we can guess where someone with an indomitable will to compete like The Truth might rank himself, but what is an objective take on where we should place him among the best of the best?
Watch the latest edition of the CLNS Media podcast “Celtics Beat” to hear the thoughts of the hosts Evan Valenti and Adam Kaufman, along with special guest Ian Thomsen.
Watch this outstanding NBA Sports Boston mini-documentary produced with the Celtics about the roots of Paul Pierce’s storied career.
Boston Celtics legendary wing Paul Pierce grew up in the shadow of the L.A. Forum, and like most kids in his neighborhood, wanted to grow up to achieve glory in that West Coast mecca of basketball. He did, just not for the team he thought he would play for. Instead of a career suiting up for Boston’s biggest rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, he ended up wearing the green and white of the Celtics for 15 seasons, nearly his entire career.
Selected 10th overall by Boston in the 1998 NBA draft, Pierce won a banner with Boston in 2008, as well as a Finals MVP that same year, and countless honors. He retired with the team in 2017 after short stints with the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers.
The folks over at NBC Sports Boston put together an outstanding mini-documentary about his formative years as a player at Inglewood (California) High School onward in partnership with the Celtics. It includes interviews with some of the people who helped set The Truth on his path.
On this date in 2017, the Celtics “waived” Paul Pierce after signing him to a one-day deal so he could retire with the team.
On this day in Boston Celtics history, legendary forward Paul Pierce was “waived” by the Celtics as the 15-season veteran of the team retired with the franchise that drafted him out of the University of Kansas with the 10th overall pick of the 1998 NBA draft.
Pierce had signed a one-day contract with the team the day prior for this reason, hanging up his sneakers for good the following day. “The organization and city took me in and made me one of their own, and I couldn’t imagine ending my career any other way,” explained the Oakland, native in a statement at the time (via the NBA). “I’m a Celtic for life.”
The former Jayhawk brought a championship to Boston in 2008 — the first in decades for the storied franchise — and won many other honors in his time in green and white.
Has this version of the Boston Celtics done enough to be considered the best Celtics team in history?
The Boston Celtics are the most storied franchise in NBA history. They lead the NBA with their 18 championship banners hanging from the rafters of the TD Garden. Right now, the current version of the Celtics is poised to become the latest dynasty in the NBA, assuming they can stay healthy and locked in.
Boston has enjoyed some of the most dominant teams in NBA history and some of the most iconic players. Bill Russell, Tommy Heinsohn, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Bob Cousey, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, the list of all-time great Celtics is as long as it is impressive.
Nevertheless, a recent YouTube video by NESN postulated that we may be watching the greatest Celtics team in history due to its dominance, depth and the elite skillsets on offer up and down the roster. However, the current roster is likely a couple more championships away from being considered as the best Celtics team of all time.
You can watch the full reasoning for why this Celtics team could be the all-time best roster by clicking on the embedded video above.
The Chief Robert Parish made a rare public appearance at Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement dinner, where he said The Truth was the best offensive player in Boston Celtics history.
The Chief Robert Parish made a rare public appearance at Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement dinner, where he said The Truth was the best offensive player in Boston Celtics history.
Larry Bird has long held a place in history as perhaps the most brilliant offensive player in the history of the NBA. But his former teammate Robert Parish thinks that Paul Pierce was actually the greatest offensive player in Celtics history.
“In my opinion, I think he was the greatest offensive Celtic ever, in my opinion,” Parish said at Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement dinner Saturday.
“I just think that Paul was more creative. He was a better scorer than Larry and John Havlicek. I think that Larry and John Havlicek and Paul were the best offensive players that the Celtics ever had. I think Paul tops that list in my opinion.”
Robert Parish explains why he thinks Paul Pierce was a better offensive player than Larry Bird. pic.twitter.com/YFnLQZl4o1
It’s a statement that will turn some heads, but comes from a unique viewpoint with Parish being a part of the original Big Three with Bird and Kevin McHale. The Chief spent 12 seasons with Bird and watched his three MVP campaigns up close.
Parish had a great admiration for how Pierce was able to put his ego and spotlight to the side to join forces with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, forming the second generation of the Big Three in Boston that would go on to win the 2008 NBA Finals in their first season together.
“You have got to respect and admire him because superstars rarely put their egos aside for the team,” Parish said. “Paul embraced Allen and Garnett, which says a lot for him to share the spotlight with other superstars. That shows the type of person that Paul is and the respect and admiration that everyone has for him, because I think he is a genuinely nice person.”
Pierce ended up finishing second in career points for the Celtics at 24,021, trailing only Havlicek’s 26,395. Bird finished third with 21,791 and Parish finished fourth with 18,245.
There has been a general acceptance of the argument that Pierce may be the most unstoppable scorer in the history of the franchise. Claiming he was the best offensive player to ever don the green is quite the surprise, especially coming from Bird’s partner in crime.
But Pierce’s legacy as a transformative scorer in Boston will live on forever when his number 34 ascends to the rafters.
Paul Pierce discussed how the near-fatal stabbing he suffered in 2000 helped him grow and embrace the city of Boston as home.
Celtics legend Paul Pierce discussed how the near-fatal stabbing he suffered in 2000 helped him grow and embrace the city of Boston as home.
It was September 2000, a year before our country began to live in fear after 9/11. Paul Pierce was having a unique experience, living in a new city as a major star. He was born in Oakland and came from Inglewood, where the Pirus and Crips ran the streets.
Pierce had escaped all of this and was becoming a superstar NBA player in a city that worships its athletes like demigods. But everything changed one night in September, when he was stabbed in the face, neck and back at the former Buzz nightclub. Pierce suffered a collapsed lung and even asked the surgeons if he was going to die.
Nearly 18 years later, he stood in a hotel just around the corner from where that stabbing took place, remembering how that moment changed who he was as an athlete, man, and citizen of Boston.
“Without a doubt, this city raised me. I’ve been through a lot. I mean, I had almost a tragic incident where I was stabbed a number of times in this city, and it could have went to the point where I wanted to leave. I even thought about maybe, ‘I’m in danger here.’ But it was just like, you know what, I embraced it. I moved on from it.”
In a city known for being as confrontational as it is protective of its own, Pierce gradually became the chosen son, trying to restore success to a once iconic franchise that had suffered its worse stretch before he got there. Pierce would miraculously bounce back from the attack to play every game that season, averaging 25.3 points per game.
The next year, he ended their longest playoff drought in franchise history (seven years) as he led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals, lasting six games against Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets. It was clear that Pierce had become the face of the franchise and the city.
“They took me in as one of their own, man,” Pierce said. “So I just feel like the things that I’ve been through in this city, on and off the court, from an immature kid to a grown adult, I’ve spent more years in the city here than I spent in any other city in my life.
“Growing up in Los Angeles, I was born in Oakland, raised in Inglewood, went to Kansas, so all those years all were broke up. Spent 15 years here, I can definitely say this city definitely raised me.”
Can Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown elevate their games after leading the Boston Celtics to a record 18th championship in franchise history?
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finally led the Boston Celtics to a championship. They overcame the Dallas Mavericks in five games to gift Boston its 18th championship in franchise history and finally dispelled the notion that they couldn’t win while playing on the same team. Tatum and Brown both enjoyed strong seasons, with each star embracing a new role within Joe Mazzulla’s rotation.
In the latest episode of “Ticket and the Truth,” Celtics legends Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce discuss whether winning their first championship will spur Tatum and Brown to elevate their games to new heights. The pair will likely face a dogfight to retain their championship in the upcoming season.
Garnett and Pierce could not add a second ring to their resumes during their Boston tenure. However, they could see Tatum and Brown going one step further and cementing their names within Celtics history.
You can watch the full episode by clicking on the embedded link above.
