Paul Pierce’s 5 best moments of his career
By Roje Smith
Los Angeles Clipper Paul Pierce’s NBA career has been worthy of the Hall of Fame and it’s coming to an end soon. He will be retiring after this season and plans to do so as a member of his original team, the Boston Celtics. Let’s take a look at the five best career moments for “The Truth.”
For 18 seasons, Paul Pierce has graced us with his presence playing for the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers. Whether you love him like Boston fans do or you hate him like Los Angeles Lakers fans do, there’s no denying the greatness of his career.
He is a 10-time All-Star with four All-NBA team selections. Pierce is also the 2008 NBA Finals MVP and ranks second behind John Havlicek as the Celtics’ all-time leading scorer. His franchise ranking with Boston is extremely impressive when you consider past alumni such as Larry Bird. In short, he is a sure-fire bet to get elected into the Hall of Fame once he is eligible.
During his illustrious career, Pierce has delivered clutch moments time and time again. Certain fan bases like the Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers have experienced memorable heart-breaking moments courtesy of “The Truth.” As his career approaches the finish line, let’s take a look at the five best moments for Paul Pierce.
5. Birth of the “The Truth”
Most great players have cool and iconic nicknames such as Michael “Air” Jordan, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and LeBron “King” James. Paul Pierce also has a great nickname that was given to him by one of the game’s legends, Shaquille O’Neal.
It took place in 2001 during a time when the Celtics were still bad and Pierce’s game was still developing. Boston was facing the then-world champion Los Angeles Lakers, who would eventually go on to repeat as champs.
However, Paul made his presence felt in a breakout performance against them. He scored 42 points on just 19 shot attempts in one of the most efficient games of his career. Pierce added six rebounds and four steals in a game where the Celtics pushed the Lakers to the brink before the world champions came out on top.
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After the game, O’Neal said, “Write this down. Paul Pierce is the motherf***ing truth. Knew the kid could play, didn’t know he could play like that. Don’t take anything out of it, Paul Pierce is the truth.”
At the time, Shaq was the best player on the planet, defending league MVP and soon to be back-to-back Finals MVP. Therefore, the praise was of the highest order and a huge confidence boost for Pierce. He went on to average 28.2 points in the final 19 games that season and scored over 40 in three contests.
The night that Shaq anointed Pierce with the nickname, it allowed him to make the leap from a promising player to a franchise cornerstone. It’s definitely one of the best and most marketable career moments for him.