Paul Pierce
Teams
Boston Celtics - 1998-13
Brooklyn Nets - 2013-14
Washington Wizards - 2014-15
Los Angeles Clippers - 2015-17
Playoffs
Appearances - 14 (2002,2003,2004,2005,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017)
Conference Finals - 4 (2002,2008,2010,2012)
NBA Finals - 2 (2008,2010)
Championships - 1 (2008)
Awards and Honors
Finals MVP - 1 (2008)
All-NBA Second Team - 1 (2009)
All-NBA Third Team - 3 (2002,2003,2008)
Hall of Fame - 2021
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Three-Pointers Made - #9
Total Points - #19
Total Steals - #22
Points Per Game - #76
Total Assists - #80
Total Rebounds - #96
League Leads
Total Points (#1-2002, #4-2001,2003,2004)
Points Per Game (#3-2002, #5-2003,2004)
Total Steals (#4-2000)
Steals Per Game (#2-2000)
Three-Pointers Made (#3-2002)
After averaging 20.4 points and 6.7 rebounds as a junior at the University of Kansas, Paul Pierce entered the NBA Draft, where he was picked with the 10th overall pick by the Boston Celtics, a team he had hated while growing up as a Lakers fan.
Pierce had a solid rookie season, averaging 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds while starting all but 3 games in the season. He improved quickly over the next 2 seasons, upping his scoring average to 25.3 in 2000-01, but the Celtics did not make the playoffs at all in those 3 years.
He set a new career-high in scoring the next year with 26.1 per game, and the Celtics appeared to be on their way to greatness after they advanced all the way to the Conference Finals behind Pierce's play. He led the largest comeback in playoff history at the time (21 points) to give Boston a 2-1 lead over the Nets, but New Jersey won the next 3 games and the series.
Pierce's scoring dipped slightly over the next few years, and Boston's playoff success matched it. They made the playoffs each year, but only survived the first round once. He raised his scoring up to its highest level in 2006, at 26.8 per game, but the Celtics missed the playoffs entirely.
Pierce missed almost half of the next season, and Boston finished with the second-worst record in the league, which prompted the team to trade for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, turning them into contenders overnight. Pierce averaged less than 20 points per game for the first time in 8 years, but Boston finished with the best record in the league.
In the playoffs, both Atlanta and Cleveland took the Celtics to 7 games, but Boston won both series, with Pierce scoring 41 in Game 7 against the Cavaliers. Boston then beat the Pistons in 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals. Pierce was named the Finals MVP after leading the team with 21.8 points per game in the Finals, though I feel Garnett should have won the award with his 18.2 points and 13 rebounds per game in the series.
The next year, with Garnett missing a good chunk of the regular season and playoffs with injury, Pierce averaged over 20 points for one last time, but it wasn't enough for a championship repeat, as Boston lost in the second round. He did get them back to the NBA Finals again in 2010, where they again faced the Lakers, but his time they fell in 7 games.
Over the next couple of seasons, Pierce continued to score at the same rate, a little over 18 points per game, but the Celtics lost in the playoffs to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in both seasons, once in the second round and once again in the Conference Finals. After one more season with Boston, when the team struggled with Rajon Rondo out for the season, Pierce was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
Pierce played 4 more seasons after leaving Boston, one each with Brooklyn and Washington, followed by 2 with the Clippers. He was hardly used in his final season, appearing in only 25 games and averaging only 3.2 points per game before retiring from basketball.
Pierce was a very good scorer for a very long time with the Celtics, averaging at least 18 points per game in 14 consecutive seasons, and he was able to reach 4 Conference Finals while still a star player, though Garnett was arguably the better player on 3 of those teams. He was the leading scorer and Finals MVP for the 2008 Celtics, and is obviously one of the best players of all time.
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