Last night, Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird into 2nd place on the all-time Celtics scoring list. Pierce now sits a mere 4600 or so points behind John Havlicek.
I was thrilled to be home in tile from my game to witness this piece of history. As many of you know, Larry Bird is my all time favorite Celtic as well as athlete. I can’t think of a more appropriate player to pass Larry Legend.
Ever since Pierce fell to the Celtics as the #11 pick in the 1998 draft I always had hoped he’d be the next great Celtic, as time has gone by, my hopes have come true.
His path to this point in his career has not been smooth. He was stabbed 11 times at a nightclub in September of 2000 and nearly died. All he did that season was come back and average 25 points a game. This was the first sign that this player was special. He’s seen the low of all lows. The Celtics were the worst team in the league during 06/07 season. I remember this well because I had season tickets and saw a number of games. While Pierce was brilliant, the team was brutal and we all thought his time as a Celtic was over.
Then came the summer of 2007 and the spring of 2008. The C’s traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and I guess you can say, the rest is history. Pierce embraced his role as the leader on this team and he was named Finals MVP as the Celts won #17 in his hometown of LA over his childhood team the Lakers. While his place as a great Celtic was never in doubt, that win secured his place in the pantheon of all-time great C’s along with Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn, Havlicek and Bird.
It has been my privilege as a fan to watch Pierce grow as player over these years. With all this talk about the directions of the Celtics after this year, I realize that their most tradeable commodities are Rondo and Pierce. Both players could get quite a haul in return if Gm Danny Ainge decides to trade either of them. While I have been hemming and hawing about what I would do ( I know, it doesn’t matter, but it’s what we all do as fans) I think I can firmly say, the C’s need to keep Pierce. Ray-Ray and KG have been great players for this team but gun-to-head, I choose Pierce over both of them. I think Pierce deserves the right to end his career with a team and in a city that has become his 2nd home.
Ainge should rebuild around Rondo and Pierce. Let these two lead the next great Celtics team. Let Pierce try to break the all-time scoring mark. I think he is the right player to top that list. Let him go down as being arguably the greatest Celtic scorer of all time.
In the meantime though, how bout one more great run to the NBA Finals? I kinda like this championship feeling.
Related articles
- Video: Paul Pierce passes Larry Bird on Celtics scoring list (probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com)
- Paul Pierce Passes Larry Bird For Second On Celtics’ Scoring List (sbnation.com)
- Paul Pierce Passes Larry Bird on Boston Celtics All-Time Scoring List (bleacherreport.com)
Brain of Jay 