Paul Pierce whines about Isaiah Thomas

The Boston Celtics will retire Paul Pierce’s No. 34 in February, which just happens to be the same day the team plans to pay homage to Isaiah Thomas.

For 15 NBA seasons, the Boston Celtics were Paul Pierce’s team. The sharpshooter led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA Championship, where he was named Most Valuable Player of the Finals. A first round draft pick of the team, Pierce is one of the best players to ever put on the white and green, and the team plans to honor him by retiring his number in February.

While any player would be honored to get his jersey number retired, Pierce does have one gripe with how the ceremony will go down. You see, that night just happens to coincide with former Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas coming back to town, after the team sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers this past offseason. The team plans to give Thomas a video tribute when he returns to the Cavs, and Pierce is not happy about it.

Pierce did say that he thought Thomas deserved a video tribute, just not on the same night he gets his jersey retired. Still, the team plans to go forward with the tribute to their former star point guard, who led the NBA in scoring last season. Thomas led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, playing his heart out after his sister, Chyna, was killed in a car crash. I.T. considered Chyna his best friend, so the fact that he flew back after the funeral to play in a playoff game, shows how much he loves the city of Boston.

Next: NBA Mock Draft: DeAndre Ayton joins the Hawks

Not to say that Pierce is not a legend, as he was one of the best shooters the NBA has ever seen. The issue is that Thomas was the heart and soul of the Celtics over the last 2.5 seasons, and deserves to be honored by the organization as well. Thomas was traded by the team this past offseason, sending shockwaves through Boston, so paying homage to him is the right thing to do in February.