Paul Pierce: Boston’s Forever Truth

In the summer of 2007, Danny Ainge mastermind a couple of trades that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen from Minnesota and Seattle respectively to Boston. They were teamed up with a now-healthy Paul Pierce and The Boston Big Three was born, also featuring a young point guard by the name of Rajon Rondo who was thrust in the starting role to run the show.

The arrival of Garnett, in particular, completely changed the culture in Boston as the team became a defensive juggernaut and made one of the greatest single-season turnarounds in NBA history, winning 66 games in 2007-08 en route to the best record in the league. Pierce, Garnett and Allen meshed together in perfect cohesion.

Rajon Rondo #9, Paul Pierce #34, Kevin Garnett #5, and Ray Allen #20

Garnett won the Defensive Player of the Year award and was in MVP contention, while Pierce remained the team’s most potent offensive threat. The threesome carried the Celtics all the way into the NBA Finals in a face-off against their old rivals Lakers.

In a Finals that was symbolized by Paul Pierce’s return from early injury and his subsequent dominance, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games for their 17th championship and their first in 22 years. Pierce, the Celtic who had just completed a decade with the franchise, was named Finals MVP. The pain and agony of the past was vanquished; and in one year, all the hard work and loyalty of Pierce finally paid off.

For the next five years, Pierce, Garnett, Allen (until 2012) and Rondo kept the Celtics in contention despite battling injuries and old age. At the helm, Doc Rivers became the perfect coach and mentor for this never-say-die team. A Garnett injury hurt their chances of a 2009 title, and they lost in 2010 on the season’s very last day in Game 7 of the Finals to the Lakers.

The team kept on punching above their weight and surprising sceptics, and Pierce continued to show flashes of offensive dominance. In 2012, they were one step away from the Finals against the new Big Three of Miami. Ray Allen left them for the Heat that off-season, and when the Celtics lost to the Knicks in the First Round in 2013, it was clear that an era was finally coming to an end.

Rivers left first, joining the Los Angeles Clippers. And then, trade rumours that had swirled around Pierce and Garnett for a long time finally amounted to some truth, as it was announced that the Celtics had sent the two players who had so closely embodied the spirit of their franchise to Brooklyn. The past had to make way for the future.

The end of an era

And so, with 10 All Star appearances, a championship, a Finals MVP award and 15 years of service, Paul Pierce leaves the Boston Celtics. He leaves as the franchise’s second-leading All Time scorer, with only two other players having more games and minutes than him for the Celtics.

I admit, it’s going to be weird and jarring to see him in any other colours except for the Celtic green and white, to see him wearing any other NBA jersey except the one that says ‘Boston’ or ‘Celtics’ in the front. It would be like watching Hakeem Olajuwon in the Raptors, Patrick Ewing in the Magic or the Sonics, Karl Malone in the Lakers, and of course, Michael Jordan with the Wizards.

And for the Nets, the future is now increasingly brighter. The team which already featured Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez will be adding Pierce, Garnett, Jason Terry and Andrei Kirilenko to the mix. If new Head Coach Jason Kidd can find a way to make things work, they could become true contenders in the Eastern Conference. And we may well be on our way to see many more memorable Pierce moments in the near future before he finally retires from the NBA.

Yet, where he finally retires from the NBA won’t eventually determine the legacy that he has amassed with the Celtics. No matter what happens ahead in Brooklyn, Pierce will forever be a Celtic. He will enshrine his name amongst the other Celtics to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame and his jersey #34 will be raised up in the rafters amongst the franchise’s other greats. When they team’s historians rattle off names like Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, and Kevin McHale, they will be sure to include Paul Pierce, too.

Pierce has moved to Brooklyn, but The Truth will always be in Boston.