I've been a fan since 2006. I was 13 then, and I had already become a diehard Sox and Pats fan. The Celtics were relatively new to me, mainly because they were so bad that nobody talked about them, my friends and family included.
I was over at a friend's house when his dad invited us to watch the Celtics game. Couldn't tell you who they were playing, and it didn't matter at the time. All I knew was we were getting beat, and bad. My friend said to his dad that we should watch the Red Sox game, but the dad insisted that we watch Paul Pierce.
I didn't know why this guy Pierce was such a big deal, but as I watched that game I began to understand. Pierce drained jumper after jumper, drove through the lane for easy layups, and rebounded and passed like the best of them. I was fascinated by the guy they called "The Truth."
I got home that night and asked my dad if we could get some Celtics tickets on the cheap for a game later that season. I remember his answer. "Really? The Celtics?" I didn't want to insist, so I let it go.
But I still watched. I didn't watch every game, like I do now, but I watched a lot of them. All because of one guy: Paul Pierce. I'll be honest, everyone else sucked. Well, maybe not "Big Al" Jefferson. He showed some promise. I remember liking him. But it was Pierce that piqued my interest. Pierce that made watching the Celtics lose worthwhile. I got a tee-shirt of his, adding to my enviable Boston collection that consisted of a Manny Ramirez tee and nothing else.
I didn't endure the heartbreaks and the long winning droughts that many of you CB'ers did. I became a fan at arguably just the right time, but I didn't care so much about the winning. I just really really liked Pierce.
So maybe I wasn't as over-the-top thrilled as many of you were when we got Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. For one thing, I didn't appreciate how much of an impact the two of them would have. Also, it didn't change the fact that Pierce was on the team, so I didn't really bother myself with them.
That season would be one of the most transformative of my fanhood. In any sport. I had been through two Sox World Series championships (and heard from my uncles at age 6 to, and I quote "[not] care about the Red Sox," because they would "only break [my] heart.") I had seen the rise of the Patriots and their three Super Bowls. But nothing compared to the Celtics championship season.
Winning basketball was just so **** fun to watch. Kevin Garnett and his intensity was just so **** fun to watch. Ray's smooooooooth threes were just so **** fun to watch. Watching the Celtics was like going to see a box-office hit, every other night. And it never got old. I started the season loving Pierce, but by the end, KG and Ray and Doc and all of Celtics basketball had become a part of me. The night they won the championship, I didn't sleep.
To save all of you some reading, I'll fast forward to when Ray left. I had matured a lot as a person and as a fan in this timespan. So when Ray did leave, I was hurt, but I understood. I also didn't care about Ray nearly as much as I did about KG or Pierce.
Fast forward to tonight, and I feel like I'm reverting to being a little kid again. This is an entirely different feeling from when Ray left. I feel like I've reverted back to 2006, but there is no Pierce to distract me. What's that old adage, you never know what you have until it's gone? I guess it hurts even more because I knew what I had.
For six years now, KG and Pierce have been a huge part of my life. At first, I gravitated towards them because they were good. A child's superficiality, I guess. But as they got older (and as I did, too), I began to appreciate them for who they were. Pierce's clutchness and KG's passion are traits you won't find anywhere else in the NBA. They gave our team an identity, a soul if you will. And that's what kept me a fan as we slowly began to decline.
I don't know what the future holds. It'll be hard for me to root for the C's, and not because they'll suck, but because they won't have that soul I had become so used to. I will still keep rooting, but for a kid who has only known the Pierce (and KG) era, it's hard to buy in to the notion of the Celtics without them. I'll try my hardest though, and I guess I can always hope for KG and Pierce to return some day to retire Celtics. Anything's possible.
Thanks for everything Pierce and KG. You have meant more to me than any other sports figures. I'll miss you and good luck in Brooklyn.
Topic: Thanks KG and PP (Read 850 times)