On Monday, Sept. 26, after 18 years of playing in the NBA, Paul Pierce has decided to retire from the game he loves. He will be retiring at the end of the Los Angeles Clippers season. Pierce made his announcement on the Player’s Tribune and simply tweeted on Twitter: “It’s time.” In his statement, he discussed how he is going to make the best of his last season and enjoy every moment of it. He explained that it was not an easy decision to make, but it was something he had to do.
Pierce played 15 seasons with the Boston Celtics, from 1998 to 2013. While on the Celtics, he became second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list. He helped the Celtics win the 2008 NBA championship, the team’s first title in 22 years. During that run to the finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Pierce won the NBA finals MVP.  The team also went up to the finals in 2010 but lost in a challenging game seven to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Pierce was also elected to 10 of the NBA All-Star games.
Most recently, Pierce has been playing for the LA Clippers. This 2016-2017 season, Pierce will return to Boston on Feb. 6 to face the Celtics. The Clippers will also face the Celtics in Los Angeles on March 6. Pierce enters his last season with an average of 20 points each game in his career. He has a total of 26,616 points, which is sixteenth on the all-time NBA scoring list.
Pierce feels honored to play his last season with the team that represents his hometown. He is grateful for his opportunity and hopes to win the championship once again. What will Pierce do once he retires? Once Pierce’s game days are over, he may want to serve again as an analyst, as he did for the playoffs back in June.
Some people are happy for Pierce, while some are skeptical. Some people claim Pierce only retired because his fellow Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett retired on the previous Friday. Pierce is close to his LA Clippers Coach Doc Rivers (who also coached for the Boston Celtics), and Rivers mentioned that Pierce wants to retire as a Celtic; therefore, he may sign with the Celtics for a one day contract, while the season comes to a close. Whatever Pierce decides to do—retire or not retire—the number 34 will be important to the Boston Celtics nation. He will forever be a legend in our eyes!