Rankings the best NBA nicknames of all time

23. The Truth

Yet again, Shaquille O’Neal rears what Charles Barkley would call his ugly head. Following a Laker win in which Boston Celtic Paul Pierce logged 42 points on 13-for-21 shooting, Shaq, in the midst of the most dominant stretch of his career both individually and with his team, proclaimed to The Boston Herald: “Take this down. My name is Shaquille O’Neal, and Paul Pierce is the (shut yo’ mouth) truth. Quote me on that, and don’t take nothing out…Paul Pierce is the truth.”

With apologies to Shaq for the above amendment, he was absolutely correct. Paul Pierce seemed ready for the NBA from the moment he arrived, fresh out of the University of Kansas, where he led the Jayhawks to the first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title.

The Inglewood, CA native found a home on the opposite coast, fighting to reclaim the rightful glory and Celtic Pride that had been lost in the years since Larry Bird and Kevin McHale last stepped out of Boston Garden as players.

From averaging over 16 points and 6 rebounds as a rookie to recruiting Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join him in Boston, Pierce lived up to the hype: he helped orchestrate the largest playoff comeback in NBA history when he scored 19 of his 28 points to overcome a 21-point lead in beating the eventual Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets in 2002.

After winning a title in 2008 alongside Garnett, Allen, Rajon Rondo and a whole host of players his then-coach Doc Rivers continues to trade for to this day, Pierce proclaimed himself the best player in the world. Typically, that would elicit some debate, but it seems only right to defer to Shaq on this one: Paul Pierce is The Truth.