Today, Paul Pierce is among the Boston Celtics’ long list of legends, but his career in Beantown was nearly cut short in the fall of 2000. He was out at a late-night spot in the city and was stabbed multiple times during a fight at the Buzz Club. It wasn’t a minor incident either. The Truth was hit in the face, neck, and back and had to undergo surgery. Still, he bounced back astonishingly quickly.
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Pierce played all 82 games the very next season, which still sounds unreal considering how serious the injuries were. Many fans look back on that moment as the one that showed how tough he really was. More importantly, it showed that the Hall of Famer wanted to help grow the C’s already incredible legacy.
And that’s exactly why he didn’t leave. Pierce spoke about the incident on the latest edition of his No Fouls Given program alongside Danny Green. When the subject of leaving Boston because of the stabbing came up, he claimed that he never considered it because that would have meant “running from the issue.”
“I always felt like you can’t run from like issues. If you got issues, there gonna be issues no matter where you at. And I love the city. I love the support I got from the organization after. I didn’t want to leave my teammates and I felt like we had some of a future we can build on and I just was just like, man, it just felt right,” said the 10-time All-Star.
Pierce was right. Boston did build. The Celtics were contenders nearly every single year he was on the roster, and they eventually snatched a ring for Beantown in 2008, with Pierce also being awarded Finals MVP. That moment must have been deeply therapeutic for The Truth. He was nearly killed in Boston, and eight years later, he was hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in its honor.
“You know, if you get traded somewhere or want to be somewhere else, you know, anything can happen. I just was like, you know what, this is where I want to be. I’m not going to run from it. It was an isolated incident. I feel it wasn’t like I had beef in the streets. So, I was just like, you know. I’m here to stick it out,” he added.
Paul Pierce talking about why he stayed in Boston after the stabbing incident
“I always felt like you can’t run from like issues. If you got issues, there gonna be issues no matter where you at. And I love the city. I love the support I got from the organization after. I didn’t… pic.twitter.com/74chA9d5Ta
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) February 16, 2026
Pierce sticking it out says a lot about how legacies really get built. Plenty of stars talk about loyalty, but he tied his name and his prime years to one franchise and lived with the highs and lows that came with it. That choice helped turn Boston from a rebuilding squad into champions and made his story bigger than just stats and highlights.
Maybe that’s why fans call him The Truth. It isn’t just about Pierce’s game. It’s about how he faced a frightening real-life moment, stayed put, and ended up writing one of the most satisfying full-circle stories in NBA history.
