Paul Pierce is one of the most beloved athletes ever to come through Boston, and the love is mutual. But it turns out “The Truth” wasn’t too thrilled when he first joined the Celtics.
The C’s selected Pierce with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. For one, Pierce thought he would go higher in the draft, but more importantly, the Los Angeles native revealed he didn’t know a whole lot about his new club — in fact, Pierce didn’t even work out for the Celtics ahead of the draft.
“I think I was just in shock,” Pierce said in a recent interview with Boston.com’s Gary Dzen. “At the time, I was projected as top-five pick. I never went to Boston, never worked out for them. I remember talking to my good friend Chauncey Billups at the time when he was playing for Boston and I was still in college. I would ask him stories about the NBA, and he kind of… scared me how training camp was going with (then-Celtics head coach) Rick Pitino.
“When they picked me I was like, ‘What?’ I really couldn’t believe it, because it came out of nowhere. I wasn’t projected at all to fall that far. Only thing I could think of was, team I hated growing up, and Rick Pitino is down there killing everybody in practice. It was mixed feelings, but at the same time it was like, I’m happy to be drafted in the NBA.”
You can’t really blame Pierce for feeling this way — the 39-year-old admitted that playing for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers would have been a “dream come true,” but instead he had to suit up for L.A.’s rival in an unfamiliar city he didn’t even visit before the draft.
Of course, things worked out pretty well for Pierce: He made 10 All-Star teams over 15 seasons in Boston, and it’s only a matter of time before his number is raised to the TD Garden rafters. We’re glad you stuck around, Paul.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
