Former NBA winner Paul Pierce might have been a Boston Celtics hero for 15 years, but growing up, the Hall of Famer was a LA Lakers faithful. The Celtics and Lakers have a rivalry that began in 1959 and has continued to endure the march of time without compromising the on-court battles it offers.
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They would dominate the NBA in the 1960s, meeting each other in the finals 6 times in the decade and then 3 more times in the 80s. So, even though Pierce would go on to don the green and white for the majority of his career, his allegiance as a young man hooping the ball was to the “Inglewood Lakers,” as he calls them.
This is, interestingly, a different Inglewood than the one we know of today. Back in the 1980s, when Paul was running around in that neighborhood, things could go really south, really quickly.
“There are so many new buildings, the SoFi stadium, the NA dome, all that stuff wasn’t there. I first grew up on Inglewood and Manchester … Then we moved over to the other side of Inglewood, closer to Morning Side, but I still continued to go to Inglewood. So now that’s when my journey got cut, took a turn because now I had to catch the bus,” he explained.
Travelling by the bus turned out to be a whole new ordeal for Pierce, who now had to deal with high school kids from other institutions.
“I’m dealing with kids who go to Krenshaw. I’m dealing with kids who go to Westchester. So I’m on the bus with so many different, like different … So like stuff used to pop off. You know, I have seen people get shot at. I have seen people get jumped on the bus … I ain’t seeing this at first … It’s been a couple times I got off the I got off on Crenshaw, Manchester and had to put my hands up and got into a couple squables,” revealed Pierce.
It wasn’t just bus squabbles Pierce was dealing with. At the time when basketball had become a routine for him, a routine he enjoyed with his friend Jason Crowe, Pierce had to navigate his way home through gang wars
“Me and him would take the bus, go to the parks on the weekend, hoop, you know, we just tried to stay away from all the negatives that went on in the city because, as you know, it was a lot of gang wars that that was going on … And you don’t want to get caught in a crossfire. You know what I’m saying? I had to learn what was going on. Had to learn not to be out at a certain time of night,” he recalled.
However, Pierce was not one to be stopped. After all, his heroes like Magic Johnson and Byron Scott were practically next door, making a name for themselves and bringing titles to the Lakers. “He [Magic Johnson] is Showtime. He was everybody’s idol. But Byron came from Inglewood. Yeah. You know, he went to Morningside and it was just like, d***! He grew up around here.”
Pierce then explained what the culture around the NBA was like in LA. “You grew up here in LA. You don’t do anything but Lakers. And I grew up right down the street from the forum, and Magic’s my idol. You know what I’m saying? That’s like a no-brainer
He continued, “Now, I don’t live in LA. I live in Inglewood, where the Lakers play … I live right down the street from the Forum. I know they called them the LA Lakers. They should have been called the Inglewood Lakers.”
Unfortunately, as it happens, while being a Lakers’ fan made him pursue basketball as a career, he would be picked up by their arch rivals, the Boston Celtics, in the 1998 NBA draft. This, of course, made things a bit tricky at home, but it helped him realize who his real friends were. His mother also played a key part in thinning out the herd.
Playing for the Celtics wasn’t easy for Pierce
He revealed how his dear friends weren’t ready to support their buddy over their team. “Because now, ‘let me invite y’all to the game.’ We come to LA. Let me see who’s going to be wearing what. You know what I’m saying? I get Keith some tickets, but he comes in there with the … That’s what I’m saying. So now I’m like, ‘All right, I can’t get him tickets to the game anymore.'”
Pierce complained that his friends would ask him for tickets all the time, but he had to lay down some ground rules first. “If I get you the tickets, you’ve got to keep it neutral or green and white.” “Green and white,” he reiterated. The rule was the same for friends and for family. No exceptions.
“So my mama got tickets for my uncle. My uncle came in the Lakers jersey. She said, ‘You ain’t never coming to another game again.’ I’ll never forget that. Never saw him at another game,” Pierce laughed.
While Pierce would never play for the Lakers during the course of his long career, he would return to LA in 2015 after signing with the Clippers for a reportedly 3-year $10 million contract. However, as time closed in on his career, Pierce expressed a desire to retire with his beloved Celtics and would sign a one-day contract with them before calling it a day.
