The ‘like-father, like-son’ narrative has played out many times in the NBA. At times, the sons have carved out their own, larger legacies and dynasties. À la Steph Curry. It is but natural for children to try and emulate their parents, and Paul Pierce feels his 11-year-old son, Prince, will enter the NBA when his time comes. The Boston Celtics legend seems to have already charted the finer details too. To start with, the kind of player Prince would be, and the money he would demand in the open market.
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Pierce, while speaking to Kevin Garnett on Ticket and the Truth, candidly laid down the amount assuming how the salaries would grow in the league in the coming years. It was an inflated assumption, yes. But more importantly, like a truly proud father, he is brimming with confidence at how good his son would be. Good enough for “$500 million”.
“By the time Prince will get in the league, the 3&D specialist is going to get $500 million. And the rest of the superstars are going to be at $1 billion. We good with $500 million,” said Pierce.
Pierce spoke in response to KG asking if the former shooting guard would teach his son moves like pump fakes and jab steps. These are fairly basic skill sets usually used by superstar players trying to create separation on ISOs.
Pierce clearly has no interest in Prince taking up the inside hustle responsibilities of the team he would be part of. Once he gets to the league, he wants Prince to shoot 3s and defend, and yes, create generational wealth by being good at what he does.
Currently, 3&D players are quite the sought-after commodity in the league. A top-tier player with this archetype is Mikal Bridges. Even though he is having an up-and-down year with the New York Knicks, when he’s firing on all cylinders, his attributes blend perfectly as support for stars on his team.
Bridges will earn $23.3 million in 2024-25, quite a team-friendly contract in today’s NBA. As the salary cap increases with the expansion of the league and a new broadcasting deal on the horizon, salaries for individual players are also set to undergo a massive uptick.
Prince, 11, is a good seven to eight years away from potentially entering the league. This is a timeline with the assumption that he would be good enough to go one-and-done at college.
In seven or eight years it would be impossible for the market to value 3&D players to such a high extent that they would attract $500 million multi-year contracts. Pierce made just over $200 million in NBA contracts over the course of his playing career from 1998 to 2017.
This shows just how difficult it is to earn anything close to the number he wants his son to make. However, if Prince does turn out to be a solid prospect, he certainly would get taken care of financially from his very first contract. Pierce himself would ensure that.
What’s more interesting than the money talk, which possibly came about in jestful banter, is Paul’s words that he would want his son to go down the 3&D path. And not the one he traversed as a player. Pierce was in the NBA for close to two decades as a superstar with offensive freedom.
Perhaps Pierce recognizes the trials and tribulations of being a player who has to carry the burden of expectations on his shoulders as the number one option on the roster. He also wants his son to be in tune with the prevalent trend in the modern game too.
