Clippers forward Paul Pierce has ended the maybe/probably/maybe/probably/maybe saga of whether he’ll play next year.
Pierce in The Players Tribune:
This is it, my final season.
It’s time to move on from the game of basketball.
Just like any difficult decision, I think you’ve got to be at peace with yourself. I’m at peace with retiring, but I’ve got one more ride left. One more season. One more opportunity.
Pierce has had an incredible career, one that will surely vault him into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He started in Boston, where he was the Celtics’ go-to player and his most reliable sidekick was Antoine Walker – and then Pierce didn’t have even Walker. Seemingly destined to be forgotten as a good player on a mediocre team, Pierce received a legacy boost when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived. The Celtics won the 2008 title, and Pierce earned Finals MVP.
After a few more years of Pierce proving he could excel individually and help a team contend, he went to Brooklyn, where the Nets gave him a late-career spark by using him at power forward. He added a stop in Washington, where he made a few clutch shots for the Wizards. Now, he ends his career reunited with Doc Rivers in Los Angeles.
Pierce doesn’t need to add more to his all-time résumé – and he probably won’t. Only Dirk Nowitzki has played more games among active players than Pierce, who turns 39 in a few weeks. The mileage shows. Pierce has declined considerably, and he’s likely in store for a minor role this season.
But on limited minutes, maybe he can still provide a spark on occasion. The Clippers have at least a fighting chance of making Pierce part of another meaningful playoff run.
After that, would he go back to the Celtics on a ceremonial contract to retire? That’s what Rivers wants. Before it reaches that point, there will be plenty of pomp for Pierce, who just set himself up for a grand retirement tour.
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 2500 Location: Inland Empire
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 2:50 am Post subject:
Save us the trouble and do it.
Do it now!!!
Bye. _________________ "This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.
Clippers forward Paul Pierce has ended the maybe/probably/maybe/probably/maybe saga of whether he’ll play next year.
Pierce in The Players Tribune:
This is it, my final season.
It’s time to move on from the game of basketball.
Just like any difficult decision, I think you’ve got to be at peace with yourself. I’m at peace with retiring, but I’ve got one more ride left. One more season. One more opportunity.
Pierce has had an incredible career, one that will surely vault him into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He started in Boston, where he was the Celtics’ go-to player and his most reliable sidekick was Antoine Walker – and then Pierce didn’t have even Walker. Seemingly destined to be forgotten as a good player on a mediocre team, Pierce received a legacy boost when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived. The Celtics won the 2008 title, and Pierce earned Finals MVP.
After a few more years of Pierce proving he could excel individually and help a team contend, he went to Brooklyn, where the Nets gave him a late-career spark by using him at power forward. He added a stop in Washington, where he made a few clutch shots for the Wizards. Now, he ends his career reunited with Doc Rivers in Los Angeles.
Pierce doesn’t need to add more to his all-time résumé – and he probably won’t. Only Dirk Nowitzki has played more games among active players than Pierce, who turns 39 in a few weeks. The mileage shows. Pierce has declined considerably, and he’s likely in store for a minor role this season.
But on limited minutes, maybe he can still provide a spark on occasion. The Clippers have at least a fighting chance of making Pierce part of another meaningful playoff run.
After that, would he go back to the Celtics on a ceremonial contract to retire? That’s what Rivers wants. Before it reaches that point, there will be plenty of pomp for Pierce, who just set himself up for a grand retirement tour.
As much as I've made fun of Fatoine Walker over the years, he wasn't really a sidekick. They were true equals, even though Pierce has a slight edge on stats. I do think Pierce had the edge as a go-to guy during crunch time, but then Fatoine was more of the leader on the floor and locker room. It's not really what anyone outside of Boston would have expected, as Pierce was more Robin to Fatoine's Batman in terms of team leadership.
Not that it mattered. If Fatoine is your team leader, your team is pretty much screwed.
Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 18190 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 12:31 pm Post subject:
CandyCanes wrote:
Who does this guy think he is, Kobe?
Was watching NBATV at the start of Media Day around the league and one of their "big announcements" was that Pierce was playing one more year. They cut away to taped message from Wheelchair. I kept flipping channels waiting until he was done but it must have lasted for at least 10 min.
How much is there to say about playing one more year, especially if you're spending the last few years of your career trying coattail your way to a championship? _________________ "Suck it up. Don't be a baby. Do your job." - Kobe Bryant
Paul Pierce says he’ll retire with Celtics next year
Clippers forward Paul Pierce said he’ll retire after the season.
But, per Doc Rivers’ wishes, Pierce says he’ll first sign with the Celtics.
Pierce, via SiriusXM NBA Radio:
I would love to do that. I think I’ll always be remembered as a Celtic. I had all my glory days, all my prime was pretty much as a Boston Celtic. So, I think I owe the fans and I owe myself that much, just to be able to put that uniform on one more time and go out that way, say I retired a Boston Celtic.
Who knew Amar’e Stoudemire would be such a trendsetter?
Pierce has $1,096,080 of his $3,679,840 salary in 2017-18 guaranteed. The Clippers would waive him, maybe in conjunction with a buyout that sees him forgo his guaranteed money. The way they manage their finances, repeatedly landing near the hard cap, the Clippers should not give Pierce a retirement gift that counts toward team salary. However, the way they manage their finances, they very well might pay a portion of his deal.
The Celtics would have to agree to sign Pierce. But a one-year unguaranteed deal with the understanding they’ll waive him after a press conference, why not? It’s great publicity.
As Pierce said, he spent his best years in Boston. He made 10 All-Star games and won a championship in his 15 season there. Pierce is the greatest Celtic since Larry Bird.
Where Pierce retires means little. Nobody will associate him with the Nets, Wizards or Clippers, regardless. He’s a Celtic through and through.
But if Pierce wants to return to Boston for ceremony, why not? He has earned it.
Joined: 25 Jul 2013 Posts: 9577 Location: Salem, OR
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:46 pm Post subject:
Can we talk about how hypocritical this dude is? Talks about how the league isn't as hungry as it used to be when he couldn't even get a ring without forming his own "superteam" and jumped from team to team afterwards
Can we talk about how hypocritical this dude is? Talks about how the league isn't as hungry as it used to be when he couldn't even get a ring without forming his own "superteam" and jumped from team to team afterwards
That's not really fair. He was on a crappy Celtics team and then they drafted Rondo and traded for Garnett and Allen. (Don't see how that constitutes him forming a superteam -- his GM simply collected a lot of good players around him, which is what every GM tries to do).
After the run ended, the Celtics wanted to rebuild and they traded him to the Nets. After that contract ended, he sensibly left. He played for the Wizards a year and then joined his old coach at the Clippers. Would't call that "jumping from team to team."
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum