On the latest episode of KG: Certified’s “Ticket & The Truth”, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce had a hilarious argument regarding the possibility of the latter playing in today’s league. Pierce thinks that he can easily play in the NBA, specifically for the Dallas Mavericks. Bursting his former teammate’s bubble, Garnett kept reiterating that Pierce wouldn’t be able to do so.
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According to Paul Pierce, the Dallas Mavericks only shoot threes and play no defense, something that he could also do. Seeing himself a “fit” on the current Luka Doncic-led Mavericks, The Truth believed that he could suit up at the age of 46.
“I fit on the Dallas team right now. Go out there, shoot threes, and play no defense. I can go out there and do that right now,” Pierce said.
Kevin Garnett didn’t even take a moment before disregarding the fellow Boston Celtics legend’s take. KG candidly mentioned that Pierce just wasn’t as good as he needed to be to play in the league. Further, The Big Ticket stated that Pierce’s offensive moves would be considered obsolete in today’s league and that the G-League players would also be able to “bone” him.
“No, you don’t (fit). You don’t fit on no Mavericks team. No, you can’t. You not good. The G-League n***as gonna bone you, ni**a. You can’t get ten in the game right now… You cannot get a bucket in the league right now,” Garnett claimed.
Pierce isn’t wrong about the Dallas Mavericks being a team that only “shoots threes and plays no defense”. Jason Kidd’s boys are second in the league with 39.7 3-pointers attempted per game, as per NBA.com. However, they are in the bottom 10 of the league with a defensive rating as bad as 116.7.
Irrespective, there is no possible way that the 2008 Finals MVP can make his comeback. Apart from the fact that Pierce is just out of shape, the game has become much faster than his playing days. While it may seem like the former Celtics star was joking about the possibility of suiting up in his mid-40s, the fact that he has constantly spoken about the same seems that Pierce has seriously considered the same.
Paul Pierce previously also spoke about making his NBA comeback
Back in December 2023, Paul Pierce first spoke about the possibility of his NBA comeback during his conversation with Kevin Garnett. Similar to his most recent comments, the 2008 NBA champ stated that he believed the Dallas Mavericks would be the best fit for him.
“I need to be on a team like the Dallas Mavericks because they’ve got two dudes who could create for me. I’m not about to be creating my own offense. They’re going to get into the lane and I’m gonna be there waiting wide open,” Pierce stated.
6 years ago, at age 39, the 6ft 7” forward averaged 3.2 points per game playing for the Clippers, as per Basketball Reference. Apart from the fact that Pierce could only survive just more than 11 minutes a game, he was unable to play more than 25 games in the season.
Now, there have been players in the league’s history to suit up despite being 45 years of age. However, the idea of Pierce making a comeback is as illogical as it can get. In the final two seasons of his career, during his stint with the Los Angeles Clippers, it was pretty evident that the 10-time All-Star was unable to catch up with the remaining of the league’s pace and physicality.
