Pierce pulled over for erratic driving in LV

[Steve Weinman]

Well I see no alternative, it's time to trade Paul Pierce.

Yep, the sooner the better.  I heard Zach Randolph was available 

-sw

[MrsNumba17]

It's disappointing when you hold someone in the highest honor, in the highest regards...you praise them with so much respect and then they do something so foolish.

He's human however in his positon he should have made a better choice. (get a [dang] limo!)

One day he's holding a MVP trophy and then the next day he's in cuffs. That's a disgrace.

I feel he owes his fans an apology.

Not a good morning...you got this as a headliner and headlines of "drunk driver kills a mother of 3" in my local paper. It's not a good morning! It just brings up memories of people I loved and lost from people (driving while intoxicated)

[DJRYB13]

I never understood why pro athletes insist on driving when they are out at the bars or clubs and have been drinking.  Even if I was dead sober, I would probably still rather have someone else drive if I had that much money.  Who actually likes driving that much anyway? 

Even if he didn't want to rent a limo he could have just paid one of his buddies some decent money to stay sober and drive him home if he was planning on drinking.  I am sure he was with a few people and that someone would be willing to make a few hundred bucks to not drink.  It blows my mind why we hear about this so often.

[celticsmaniac]

Hmmmm....


some people are choosing to interpret this as Pierce being "irresponsible" and "selfish" and "hurting the team" and "putting himself in a bad situation".


but here are the facts:


Paul Pierce gets pulled over for changing lanes without signalling (even though there was probably no one else on the road)...


he passes every sobriety test they give him...



he passes the breathalizer test...



and yet...



they put him in handcuffs?



hmmmmm....

well let me give you another interpretation:

DWB!

[DJRYB13]

Hmmmm....


some people are choosing to interpret this as Pierce being "irresponsible" and "selfish" and "hurting the team" and "putting himself in a bad situation".


but here are the facts:


Paul Pierce gets pulled over for changing lanes without signalling (even though there was probably no one else on the road)...


he passes every sobriety test they give him...



he passes the breathalizer test...



and yet...



they put him in handcuffs?



hmmmmm....

well let me give you another interpretation:

DWB!

As sad as it is to say, that is a good point and could have been a legit reason for him being stopped.  It's not like he got arrested or was hammered.  People might be taking things to an extreme level when it isn't really warranted.  He did register on the breathalyzer though (but was below the limit) so that doesn't help the argument.  If he was dead sober, you might have more of a point.   

He got pulled over for something that almost everyone does when they are driving, which is not signaling to change lanes.  But at 3 AM, you are basically asking for trouble if you do that because cops are looking for the smallest thing to pull you over.  I am sure they assume everyone has been drinking out in Vegas.

I still don't understand why he would put himself in that situation in the first place though.

[cordobes]

Well I see no alternative, it's time to trade Paul Pierce.

Yep, the sooner the better.  I heard Zach Randolph was available 

-sw

Ahah, TPs for both of you. bleedingreen with the leveled and sober anlyzis and Steve coming up with a sensible solution for this catastrophic situation.

Dismissing drinking and driving, whether it is DRUNK driving or not, shows your selfishness and lack of concern for others. If you have one beer or a glass of wine with dinner and then drive home, fine. If you are drinking the hard stuff or have multiples of the above then stop getting behind the wheel. PP would not have "smelled of alcohol" if he had a glass of wine with dinner.

That's most probably what Pierce did. If he had had, say, 2 glasses of wine with dinner and a whiskey after it, his BAC would certainly be above the legal limit. No question. He probably took a cocktail while playing blackjack or something. Colour me as unimpressed. And you smell of alcohol even if you just drank half a beer.

Seriously, sometimes the US seem a truly bizarre country: why the heck a police department releases the information that they stopped a driver who was not driving under influence and changed lanes without signaling? What's next, parking tickets? Crossing the street without looking twice? And why does anyone care?

I've read references about Pierce's stay in Spain on this thread. Just to clarify: Pierce was in Spain working in a basketball camp for kids, representing the Boston Celtics and the NBA, promoting the game and helping the kids to develop their games, not vacationing or partying. And, for what I was able to know, he did a great job, so good he was already invited to come back next year. Just as a curiosity, he opted to sleep with the kids in the campus dormitory, instead of leaving at the end of the day to a 5 stars hotel. Classy of him (and surely a great experience for those kids).

[Reyquila]

Guys; who amongst us has not ever been behind the wheel at least a little under the influence? The younger we wrere, the more frequent the occurrence, right? Most of us got away with nothing bad happening and not being caught also, right? Ok. It happened to me more than once, and Im not the drinking type. The last drink I had was with Master Po when I met him down here at the airport. lolol. But, We all knew we were taking chances with our lives, the lives of whoever was in the car with us, and the lives of third parties who were not with us. We always knew what we were doing. And we could not excuse that. I dont know the exact circumstances surrounding PP's saga with the law. Im sure he acted properly and would have taken full responsibility for his actions, if necessary. The more this situation has been commented, the moe I have read posts exhibiting a very serious and responsible stand about what PP should have done and what he shouldnt have done. Im glad to see what a mature group of fans we have commented on this situation. Makes me feel there is hope. Makes me feel good. My day is made; thank you.

[Eeyore III]

The last drink I had was with Master Po when I met him down here at the airport.

Why am I not surprised?  Master Po would drive anyone to the bottle.   

[Bob Day]

Good point Eeyore. Had Paul been with Master Po, this would have likely been a much different story.

[satch]

I have had mixed emotions concerning Pierce. Did he not get stabbed in a bar one time? Then there was the accusation of a gang sign during a NBA scuffle. Why would he be out driving at 3am in the morning? I wonder about the self proclaimed best player in the league. I do admit he was the best player against a heartless Laker team. The C's are the best team in the NBA and KG is the least expendable Celtic.

[galen]

Just some info for those arguing about BAC and legal limits.  Some places have "Zero Tolerance" laws which means that you can be arrested for being impaired even if your BAC is below .08.  I've heard that Vegas is very strict on drunk driving and it would not surprise me if they had a zero tolerance law.

Zero tolerance is an interesting concept and I think, a good one.  It is extremely hard to know whether you are below a certain BAC and for some, .05 may actually mean they are incapable of driving a car.  If you don't have a breathalyzer, then how can you "really" know if you are legal to drive or not?  Zero tolerance laws make it so you know that you can't have even one drink and be confident that you are legal to drive.  Which is really how it should be.  Take a cab/public transit.

[BballTim]

Clarification on stance. There are a lot of people on here that have made a big deal about the fact he is out celebrating. I have no problem with that. Have at it PP. I have one problem with his actions. He was out partying and drinking and then got behind the wheel. Dismissing drinking and driving, whether it is DRUNK driving or not, shows your selfishness and lack of concern for others. If you have one beer or a glass of wine with dinner and then drive home, fine. If you are drinking the hard stuff or have multiples of the above then stop getting behind the wheel. PP would not have "smelled of alcohol" if he had a glass of wine with dinner. All I am saying is you have to be smarter than that. You also need to think of others. Don't drive around even "partially" impaired. If you do, then I hope the cops stop and harass you every single time.

  Do you realize what a small amount of alcohol you can consume and pass a breathalizer test? It's not a lot. Paul was obviously pretty responsible in that matter.

[crownsy]

Clarification on stance. There are a lot of people on here that have made a big deal about the fact he is out celebrating. I have no problem with that. Have at it PP. I have one problem with his actions. He was out partying and drinking and then got behind the wheel. Dismissing drinking and driving, whether it is DRUNK driving or not, shows your selfishness and lack of concern for others. If you have one beer or a glass of wine with dinner and then drive home, fine. If you are drinking the hard stuff or have multiples of the above then stop getting behind the wheel. PP would not have "smelled of alcohol" if he had a glass of wine with dinner. All I am saying is you have to be smarter than that. You also need to think of others. Don't drive around even "partially" impaired. If you do, then I hope the cops stop and harass you every single time.

  Do you realize what a small amount of alcohol you can consume and pass a breathalizer test? It's not a lot. Paul was obviously pretty responsible in that matter.

no kidding, honestly people watch myth busters once in awhile. .08 is a beer for the average person anytime in the last 2 hours.

now, mabey im a lush, but 1 beer at the outback doesn't really make me unable to function at peak effectivness for the next 2 hours.

[Morris Blue]

Just some info for those arguing about BAC and legal limits.  Some places have "Zero Tolerance" laws which means that you can be arrested for being impaired even if your BAC is below .08.  I've heard that Vegas is very strict on drunk driving and it would not surprise me if they had a zero tolerance law.

Zero tolerance is an interesting concept and I think, a good one.  It is extremely hard to know whether you are below a certain BAC and for some, .05 may actually mean they are incapable of driving a car.  If you don't have a breathalyzer, then how can you "really" know if you are legal to drive or not?  Zero tolerance laws make it so you know that you can't have even one drink and be confident that you are legal to drive.  Which is really how it should be.  Take a cab/public transit.

"Zero Tolerance" is for people under the age of 21 and they have it in some countries. Your post is more or less irrelevant in discussing Paul Pierce driving while under .08.  You can drive a car if you are under the legal limit.  This shouldn't even be a news story. Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. TMZ for breaking this Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.

[Morris Blue]

It's disappointing when you hold someone in the highest honor, in the highest regards...you praise them with so much respect and then they do something so foolish.

He's human however in his positon he should have made a better choice. (get a [dang] limo!)

One day he's holding a MVP trophy and then the next day he's in cuffs. That's a disgrace.

I feel he owes his fans an apology.

Not a good morning...you got this as a headliner and headlines of "drunk driver kills a mother of 3" in my local paper. It's not a good morning! It just brings up memories of people I loved and lost from people (driving while intoxicated)

HE DIDNT EVEN DRIVE DRUNK WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE. "One day he's holding the MVP trophy and the next day he's in cuffs?"  first of all, that was months ago, and second of all, you've obviously never been pulled over.  And if you did, did you get cuffed? That's all that happened.  He got pulled over.  We've all gotten pulled over for speeding or crossing the line or some reason.  He wasn't above the BAC. It's not a crime to have a beer or two then drive.