Paul Pierce seems to be fully embracing his role as the NBA’s awesome old guy.
Pierce continues to be a legitimate contributor for the Washington Wizards — one of the Eastern Conference’s best teams — but his play might be taking a back seat to the things he continues to say.
The former Boston Celtics star doesn’t limit his talk to off the court, though. He remains one of the NBA’s best trash talkers, but it sounds like he’s having trouble finding a player he’ll pass the torch to when he calls it quits. Pierce has a theory, however, for why there’s not the same level of trash talk there used to be in the NBA.
Like any grumpy old man, Pierce blamed technology.
This isn’t the first time Pierce has called out the younger generation. In an ESPN Radio interview in October, Pierce offered his take on young players, saying he wants to beat them all.
“This is a different era,” he said in October. “Guys are playing a lot more together in the summer. You see more friendships in the league. It’s not like in the ’80s when you had enemies, or you couldn’t stand this guy, and there were fights all the time.
“These guys, they all get along. It’s a new generation. They all want to play with each other. They all want to win. They’re in USA Basketball all summer, they play in the summer leagues all summer, so they get to know one another and they try to join one another and try to win a championship. It’s a new era that we’re seeing, and this is the way it’s going to be, guys, we’ve just got to accept it.”
Never change, Paul.
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
