There are many benefits to being a modern professional athlete. They have access to the very best in training, medicine, and nutrition, for instance. They also get paid a substantial amount of money compared to their predecessors. Their reach is truly global. However, with those undeniable pros come some big cons. The primary one is increased scrutiny in the age of social media.
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Every single thing an athlete does, whether it’s while they’re playing or when they’re not in uniform, is picked apart by millions. That’s even true after they retire, especially if they stay in the public eye by taking a job with a team’s front office or coaching staff, or with the media.
Paul Pierce, who played his last NBA game back in 2017, took up a job at ESPN as an analyst within months of his retirement. As most basketball fans now know, his time at ‘The Worldwide Leader’ came to an end a few years later after he broadcast an NSFW Instagram Live in which he was wasted while surrounded by scantily clad women.
Pierce was on Byron Scott’s Fast Break this past week, and the conversation was so good that it needed two parts. The second part included a discussion about the infamous IG Live in April of 2021.
Pierce had downplayed that incident in the immediate aftermath, saying, “I got fired for having some entertainment.” He seems to finally understand why it was a bad idea to put something like that out into the world.
“That’s something I’m not really proud of, because I got daughters and stuff. We may be doing stuff in our private time, but it don’t have to really get exposed,” Pierce said.
“And by no means, I never try to come off like I’m some angel or saint in any way. We all have our vices or things that we do, and it was a situation, you know, I’m at a party, and I didn’t have to film it for the world to know,” he added.
Often after an embarrassing incident like this, people will either double down, as Pierce initially did, or put out some kind of PR package to apologize. It’s not often that we get something real, but that’s what Pierce did here.
Of course, Pierce is a former NBA player, presumably with the means to indulge in a good time. And, as long as everyone is consenting adults, there’s really not a problem. That doesn’t mean that ESPN was wrong in firing him.
If you’re representing a network or any business, for that matter, let alone one owned by a family-friendly company such as Disney, then there’s a certain expectation that you’ll conduct yourself in a certain way. Pierce could have enjoyed his party without broadcasting it to the world, and there wouldn’t have been an issue.
Having kids makes you see things differently, and Pierce acknowledged that here. “I know that I didn’t do nothing wrong or illegal,” he said.
“But I gotta be an example for people like my kids and my daughters that are gonna go to school, and people are gonna say something about it. That’s what we have to live with when we’re in the limelight,” added the 2008 NBA champion.
With age comes wisdom, and the 48-year-old seems to have a better grip now on what’s expected of him. Pierce is no longer with ESPN, but he has rebuilt his media career by becoming a regular contributor on FS1. He also co-hosts two successful podcasts, KG Certified and No Fouls Given.
Pierce may or may not still be having a good time when he’s not working. But at least he’s keeping it off social media.
