Paul Pierce Play Style

This article is about the basketball player. For the American football coach, see Paul Pierce (American football). For the Australian politician, see Paul Pearce.

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Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021. He was most rectly an analyst on ESPN's basketball programs The Jump and NBA Countdown.

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Pierce was a high school McDonald's All-American and earned conssus first-team All-America honors in his junior year at Kansas. After being chos by the Boston Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Pierce spt the first 15 years of his career with Boston. Pierce's nickname, the Truth, was giv to him by Shaquille O'Neal on March 13, 2001. He starred as captain of the Celtics, earning 10 All-Star selections and becoming a four-time All-NBA team member. Pierce combined with Kevin Garnett and Ray All in 2007 to form a Big Three that led Boston to two NBA Finals and an NBA championship in 2008. Pierce was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 2008. In October 2021, Pierce was honored by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Along with Larry Bird and John Havlicek, Pierce is one of only three players to have scored more than 20, 000 career points with the Celtics.

In July 2013, Pierce was traded to the Brooklyn Nets along with teammates Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry. He signed with the Washington Wizards as a free agt in 2014. After one season with the Wizards, Pierce signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, reuniting him with former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. He spt two seasons with the Clippers before retiring in 2017. On July 17, 2017, the Celtics signed Pierce to a contract, abling him to retire as a member of the organization with which he spt his first 15 NBA seasons.

Pierce was born in Oakland, California. His family later moved to Inglewood, California, where he attded Inglewood High School. He was cut from Inglewood High's varsity basketball team during his freshman and sophomore years and seriously thought about transferring before spding extra time in the gym and becoming the best player on the team by the d of his junior year.

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Pierce wt on to participate in the 1995 McDonald's All-American Game alongside future NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury, and Antawn Jamison, and was a contestant in the game's Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Carter. He grew up a Los Angeles Lakers fan and dreamed of playing for the team.

Pierce spt three years at Kansas betwe 1995 and 1998. He earned honorable mtion All-Big Eight honors and was selected second team Freshman All-American by Basketball Weekly. He was also honored as the Big Eight Co-Freshman of the Year with Colorado's Chauncey Billups. During the summer of 1996, Pierce earned a spot on the roster of the USA's Under 22 team and helped the United States go undefeated in the World Championship-qualifying tournamt in Puerto Rico. As a sophomore, Pierce captured the first of two Big 12 Conferce tournamt Most Valuable Player awards after averaging 21.7 points and guiding Kansas to the inaugural tournamt championship.

As a junior in 1997–98, Pierce won Most Valuable Player honors in both the Preseason NIT and the Big 12 Conferce tournamt. He was selected First Team All-Big 12 Conferce by both the AP and Coaches, and was named Associated Press First Team All-American and a finalist for the 1998 John Wood and Naismith awards. He scored 777 points as a junior—the fifth-most single-season point total in Jayhawks history. He ranks as the fifth-leading scorer in Kansas history (1, 786 points) and 11th on the all-time rebounds list (676).

Paul Pierce Birthday

Pierce was selected with the 10th overall pick in 1998 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, a team he despised growing up.

He scored 19 or more points in 10 of his first 11 contests. For that year, he averaged 16.5 points and finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year honors. In his second season, he raised his scoring average to 19.5 points per game.

In the 2000–01 season, Pierce appeared in 82 games (all starts), averaging 25.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.68 steals in 38.0 minutes. He led the Celtics and finished eighth in the league in points per game and fourth in total points (2, 071). He was named NBA Player of the Month for March 2001 after averaging 30.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.60 steals for the month.

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That season, Pierce led the Celtics to the playoffs for the first time in sev years and on to the Eastern Conferce Finals. In Game 3 of the conferce finals, the Celtics pulled off the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history, with Pierce scoring 19 of his 28 points in the final 12 minutes as Boston overcame a 21-point deficit to beat the New Jersey Nets 94–90.

The win gave the Celtics a 2–1 advantage in the series; however, the Nets wt on to win the series in six games.

Prior to the 2007–08 season, the Celtics acquired the services of fellow NBA All-Stars Ray All and Kevin Garnett. The pair combined with Pierce to form a Big Three. The Celtics completed the largest single-season turnaround in NBA history, with the Big Three leading Boston to 66 wins in the regular season, a 42-game improvemt. However, the team struggled initially in the playoffs. The Atlanta Hawks took them to sev games in the first round, as did the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conferce semifinals. In Game 7 of their series against the Cavaliers, Pierce racked up the second most Game 7 points in franchise history with 41 as the Celtics edged the Cavaliers to advance to the Eastern Conferce Finals.

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On June 5, 2008, in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Pierce was injured in the third quarter and was carried off the court in serious pain.

However, he came back to the court only a few minutes later to spark the Celtics with 15 points in the third quarter route to a 98–88 victory.

He wt on to lead the Celtics to their 17th championship with a 4–2 series victory over the Lakers. Pierce was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after averaging 22 points per game over the six-game series.

Know The Step Back

Pierce and the Celtics looked to repeat as world champions during the 2008–09 NBA season. Pierce missed only one game the tire season and led the team in scoring. He was named to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game and for the first time to the All-NBA Second Team. Despite Pierce's success, with Kevin Garnett injured, the Celtics lost in the second round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

At the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pierce became the first Celtic since Larry Bird to win the Three-Point Contest.

In Game 3 of the first round betwe the Celtics and Miami Heat in the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Pierce hit a 21-foot jumper at the buzzer to beat Miami 100–98 and give the Celtics a 3–0 series lead.

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The Celtics wt on to win that series, and also defeated the heavily favored Cavaliers in the second round. They faced the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conferce Finals and beat them in 6 games to advance to their second Finals appearance in the Big 3 era. They faced off against the Lakers in a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals and took a 3–2 lead heading back to Los Angeles. However, in spite of Rasheed Wallace more than making up for the loss of injured cter Kdrick Perkins, the Celtics were blown out in Game 6 and lost a 13-point second-half lead in Game 7, losing the deciding game 83–79.

On June 29, 2010, Pierce opted out of his contract and invoked his early termination clause to become an unrestricted free agt on July 1, 2010.

However, on July 2, Pierce and the Celtics verbally agreed to a four-year extsion keeping him in Boston through the 2013–14 season.

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On November 3, 2010, during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Pierce scored his 20, 000th career point on a free throw, becoming the third player in Celtics history to reach that milestone solely in a Celtics uniform.

The Celtics finished the season with the number 3 seed in the Eastern Conferce and swept the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. In the second round, the Celtics took on the Miami Heat and their big three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Celtics lost to Miami, who evtually moved