Nothing great has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm.
And for Paul Pierce, leader of the “old man’s pick-up game,” that adage will define his career as one of the greatest Boston Celtics in its storied history.
This is not to begin mourning the death of his Celtics life, but to understand what it all meant if reports today from Greg Dickerson are true.
“I don’t think they will (bring Pierce back),” Dickerson said Sunday on CSNNE. “And I know that the company that Paul Pierce hangs around in, they do not believe – and I don’t think Paul Pierce believes – that he is going to be brought back next year at $15 million. I know for a fact that people around Paul Pierce have pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that he’s played his final game in a Boston Celtics uniform. Again, Paul wants to stay – obviously for $15 million, but he wants to finish his career in a Celtics uniform.”
This was certainly a well-known possibility during the first round of the NBA playoffs, when Pierce was doing his best to turn back the clock and take down the New York Knicks, but as we know, Pierce and Kevin Garnett alone were not enough.
Pierce has been the Boston Celtics for the past 15 years. He has embodied the franchise and all that it stands for: pure skill, grit, determination, heart and loyalty. But the future is Rajon Rondo, and whoever Danny Ainge can fit around him to form another contender on the fly.
Pierce is still spitting out 18-6-5 night-in and night-out, reinventing his game as a new-age point-forward and carrying the load, making the clutch shots like he always has. But he is slated to make hefty $15 million next year while rapidly increasing in age and durability, Pierce may no longer be the best fit for the franchise he brought back to prominence.
The lone year remaining on Pierce’s contract can be bought out for $5 million. Asked whether he believes the Celtics will trade Pierce or buy him out, Dickerson said: “One way or the other. Probably a buyout. More than likely a buyout.”
Pierce has outlasted almost every wing player from his generation in terms of production and relevancy — Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, etc. — but may be forced to wander through the NBA veteran abyss like they all have before him. Other than Pierce, only Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan have played 15-plus years with the same team and one a title in the process in this generation of players. There have been only three others in the history of the NBA: Dolph Schayes, Hal Greer and John Havlicek.
The only other player that has come close with Pierce, Kobe, Dirk and Duncan?
Kevin Garnett.
Who may very well be on his way out of the NBA entirely if Pierce and the Celtics part ways.
“If Paul’s gone, I think without a doubt Kevin Garnett is gone – either by retirement or he finally decides to waive his no-trade clause, and the Celtics maybe work something out with a (Los Angeles Clippers) team,” said Dickerson. “But the list is real short; the teams that Kevin Garnett would go to, there might be two of them on it, and they both might be the Clippers and (Los Angeles) Lakers.”
Nothing great in this league is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.
Pierce and Garnett epitomized it.
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