Paul Pierce labeled The Truth by the great Shaquille O'Neal. Was one of the greatest Celtics to ever put on the green and white. He could get to the hoop with ease, he had a nasty midrange game that was at times unstoppable and could he knock down the three! No one embodied being a Celtic like Paul, and his love for the franchise was evident even when he played for other teams later in his career.
An early indication of his greatness in the post season came during the Eastern Conference Finals vs the then New Jersey Nets. Where the Celtics were trailing by 21 points in the fourth quarter and he scored 19 of his 28 points in that fourth quarter to to lead the Celtics to the greatest fourth quarter comeback ever! Talk about incredible! In game 7 vs the Cavs during their epic title run he scored the 2nd most points in Celtics playoff history where he scored 41 points and out did Lebron. During the Finals that year he was carted off the floor and wheel chaired to the locker room and ended up coming back and lighting up the Lakers!
When asked about Kobe, The Truth said I'm The Best Player! Talk about confidence and what you want out of your best player. When Paul, KG and Ray came together they had the largest turn around in NBA history a 42 game improvement. On November 3rd 2010 he scored his 20000 point vs the Bucks and was the third Celtic in history to reach that number. On February 7th 2012 he passed the great Larry Bird for second on the Celtics scoring list. On March 9th he played his 1000th game as a Celtic, joining Hondo and the Chief!
An NBA champ and Finals MVP he played on 10 All Star teams. His number 34 is retired in the Garden and he's being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year! When he was finally ready to retire after playing for the Nets, Wizards and Clippers he came home and signed with the Celtics and retired one on July 17th 2017. Paul Pierce has hit the most buzzer beaters in NBA history - absolute clutch.
. On the floor Pierce was the prototypical Celtic despite growing up a Lakers fan. He embraced and loved his time as a Celtic and his play was evident showed it. An underrated aspect of his game was defense and he could make big stops on the floor. If you needed a hoop going to the basket, he was your guy. One of the best ever at that. Need that clutch midrange jumper of the dribble? He was your guy. How about a big three? Well, you know the rest!
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