Paul Pierce has never been one to shy away from making controversial, gimmicky comments for the public. His latest tweet just adds to this.
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Paul Pierce was undoubtedly one of the best forwards in the game during his prime in the NBA. Drafted in 1998 by the Celtics, Pierce didn’t take long to establish himself as a serious threat.
By his 4th season, Pierce had led the Celtics to the Conference Finals. However, team success mostly eluded him for the first 9 seasons of his career. Boston just couldn’t find the pieces to make his teams viable contenders.
That changed in 2007 when Danny Ainge pulled off a Ray Allen trade, as well as a 7-players-for-1 deal to land Kevin Garnett from the Timberwolves. Boston won 66 games and the championship that very season, with Pierce winning Finals MVP honors.
However, the later part of his career saw him not make it back to the summit. The Lakers bested Boston in the 2010 NBA Finals, and the team never returned there till 2022.
Pierce retired in 2017 after one final bow with the LA Clippers. He joined ESPN as an analyst and promptly earned a reputation as a hot-take artist.
Paul Pierce claims to be the GOAT on and off the court
Most of those who know Pierce’s track record know that he attempts to be the fun guy in the building. That remains true when he’s browsing Twitter as well.
Pierce lost his gig with ESPN when he live-streamed a house party with strippers and weed 2 years back. However, far from reining in his inhibitions due to that incident, it has only led Pierce to become more gregarious online.
The Truth got his Twitter fingers rattling once again during a lean news cycle during the All-Star break. Pierce declared himself as the GOAT in his latest post.
One struggles to wonder what is going through #34’s mind currently. He obviously isn’t serious about his proclamation, but with a guy like Pierce, you never really know.
After all, for the longest time, Pierce said he had LeBron’s number. He even claimed to have had a better career than Dwyane Wade on a serious ESPN segment!
What legacy does Pierce have in basketball?
Pierce was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a first-ballot selection in 2021. Few people could dispute his accolades and achievements in the league.
Pierce is the Celtics’ 2nd-highest all-time leading scorer. By all accounts, he’s probably the greatest player in franchise history since the retirement of Larry Bird.
However, the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are fresh on the heels of this man’s legacy. Tatum, in particular, looks like he’ll be a perennial All-NBA First Teamer – something Pierce wasn’t.
