Admit it, Boston Celtics fans: You were loving every second of Paul Pierce’s brief but eventful run through this year’s NBA playoffs.
Pierce’s old boss certainly was.
“I’ve really had a lot of fun watching Paul in the playoffs,” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told the Boston Herald before the Atlanta Hawks eliminated Pierce’s Washington Wizards on Friday. “His team is doing well. He’s playing well. He’s just fun to watch. It’s really impressive.
“I just think it’s nice that he’s having fun, and it was fun following his friendly banter with Toronto and the success he had at the big shots he made to back it up.
“I watched from a distance, and he brought a smile to my face many times this year.”
It truly was a vintage Pierce performance — equal parts big shots and trash talk. But the forward’s comments after the would-be game-tying shot in Game 6 left his fingertips mere milliseconds too late suggested this might have been the 37-year-old’s final ride.
“I don’t even know if I’m going to play basketball anymore,” Pierce told reporters after Washington’s 94-91 loss, via The Washington Post.
So, is this the end of the road for Pierce? Ainge doesn’t seem to think so.
“I’ve always said that Paul loves the game,” Ainge told the Herald. “Paul loves basketball. I felt like I was the same way. I had more basketball left in me when I walked away, but Paul definitely has basketball left in him, no question about it.”
Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe concurred, saying Pierce, who has a player option for next season, might even be in line for a raise this summer.
“While Paul Pierce has enjoyed his time with the Wizards,” Washburn wrote Sunday, “and could continue to be part of their quest for an NBA Finals berth next season with a player option at $5.5 million, don’t be surprised if he considers opting out. … Pierce, 37, has long maintained he wants to play until he is 40, and he could get a multiyear deal on the open market as either a starter or reliable bench scorer at likely a raise from his current salary. Pierce wanted a contract in the neighborhood of $10 million last summer before settling on a mid-level deal with Washington.”
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
