Even though the thought of Pierce winning a title with the Lakers makes me puke
He was loyal to the Celtics, so I'll be loyal to him
There's been a new misconception about Pierce's loyalty to the Celtics that has evolved over a certain period of time. I don't know why this happens, but there's a lot of stuff like this that happens. The past just gets clouded over time when people start saying things. I don't know how to put it. Kinda like for example, when Russell retired and the immediate years after it - there was absolutely no doubt who was the better player (between him and Wilt.) Russell was better and in 1980 was voted the greatest player of all time. Then all of a sudden overtime, people's memories started getting meshy, and then there were analysts and fans that never saw those two play. All of a sudden, people started going - "Russell played with stacks of HOFrs, of course Wilt was better!"
What I'm trying to get at is - I think we tend to forget certain things. With the array of these new players seemingly forcing their way off of teams after 10 minutes in the league, we look favorable at Pierce. And because Pierce remained on bad teams for a while, we give him this benefit of being loyal to the team.
Hate to say it, but while I appreciate Pierce for never coming out and publicly demanding trades like todays clowns do - this guy would have gladly accepted a change of scenery from the years 2004-2007. One of the reason he was never dealt is because Danny thought he needed to have at least one star in place to build a team. And all those Pierce rumors back then had us getting back the Corey Maggettes and Stromile Swifts of the world. Do you not remember Pierce, who mailed in a 2004 playoff series against Indiana? Or when he disgraced himself with that ridiculous episode in Game 6 v Indiana the following year? That episode alone has always stained his legacy. The casual Boston fans still has that in the back of their minds, and Pierce was reviled by especially the fan that looks at the NBA and the NBA players with a dirty eye. That's why Pierce, despite bringing a long awaited championship back to Boston, and spending by far more time than any Boston sports star (or even semi-star) in this city than all of them, isn't even close to being one of the most beloved current athletes in this town. After he re-upped in 2001, had a nice run in 2002 and did ok in 2003 - 2004-2007 was bad. He was all but ready to demand a trade in 2007 after Garnett (and many other stars - Marion, Jermaine O'Neal) refused to play here. He admitted as much on a Dale-Holley interview back in 2008-2009ish. It was even reported back late June by Adrian Woj here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-pierce062507
Let's not overstate Pierce's loyalty to Boston. This is getting out there because I feel Pierce wants to finish his career here and play on one team his whole career and make a run at the all-time Celtics scoring record. But there was a time when Pierce wasn't nearly giving 100% (for playoff teams, not just 30 win lottery teams) and would've gleefully accepted the next plane ticket out of Boston
He's not perfect. Every player goes through a time period where he feels he's not a fit on the team anymore and explores the opportunity for a trade elsewhere. But like you said, he has never publicly demanded a trade. One story I will always remember how he gleefully hugged Danny and Doc after the KG trade went down saying "Thank you, thank you" with tears in his eyes. He knew right then that his legacy with the Celtics was secure. He's a NBA history buff. If you ask anyone, it's him who cares about his legacy the most. He cares about the franchise because it is that special to be a part of it. He understands that.
I don't see the Indiana episode as an example of his disloyalty to us. That was the lowest of the lows for him, including the stabbing. That hurt his image more than anything but when you've got a special player like him, you're bound to have a lot of crazy stories about him. This would be the "dark times" of his years. The bottom line is, he's still here. He's still with us and he still gushes about being a part of the family. To me, that's what loyalty is about. Back in the days, it was easy to be loyal. It took a HUGE toll on your family to be traded to another team so players usually stayed with one team. Nowadays, it's rare and you have to appreciate it when one player is with a franchise for more than 10 years. It's a two way street. We sacrificed for him, and he sacrificed for us. Right now, it's our turn to sacrifice the immediate future for him.
We have such fond memories of Bird because of how he stayed with us right to the bitter end. I want to continue that with Pierce. The whole "signing a contract for 1 day and then retiring" trend is a nice gesture albeit hollow. Pierce is bigger than that.
Topic: Woj on 'EEI: If Cs trade, Pierce most likely one to go:Rondo only for star (Read 28465 times)