Paul Pierce is in the headlines after being removed from his role as an ESPN pundit. The Celtics legend’s NBA career is now under the spotlight.
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We all knew PP to be the irritating talking head on sports shows mainly there just to talk himself up. But things took an unfamiliar turn last weekend as Pierce streamed himself playing poker, smoking sesh and enjoying the company of strippers live on Instagram.
The fallout of Pierce’s actions has been swift and predictable. ESPN is owned by Disney, a company that advocates for universally viewable entertainment. The presence of strippers in Pierce’s videos, in addition to his on-screen smoking, precipitated his departure.
Paul Pierce’s response to being fired makes it even better. pic.twitter.com/EHeQVFnDtc
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) April 5, 2021
People have since been trying to look up what Pierce’s net worth is. Estimates on the internet are notoriously unreliable, so we can only take a gander at his career earnings.
How much money did Paul Pierce earn in his NBA career?
Pierce was drafted by the Celtics in the lottery during the 1998 NBA Draft. The consensus opinion is that Paul Pierce is the second-best player from this class behind Dirk Nowitzki.
As the 10th pick in the draft, Pierce earned around $6.2 million pre-tax during his 4-year rookie contract. His pay scale received a boost as Pierce entered his fifth season in the league. His salary increased every season, from $10.06 million in 2002-03 to $19.8 million in 2009-10.
In total, Pierce amassed a significantly large amount of money as an NBA player – over $195 million, as a matter of fact. This means that Pierce has a net worth of at least $50 million.
A small amount of googling puts a rough estimate of $70 million of his net worth. This seems fair, taking his expenses, taxes paid and other investments into account. Pierce will be a rich man for the rest of his life unless he makes some unwise spending decisions.
There is the small matter that he’s lost a nice hobby gig as an armchair pundit. But those roles are there dime a dozen in today’s world of unlimited sports media. Pierce will find a niche at most places that he’d want. Let’s see how things turn out.
