The 2008 NBA champions Boston Celtics are seen as the benchmark of superteams since they teamed up Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the summer of 2007.
That team went to win one NBA championship in two trips to the Finals, becoming one of the best squads in the league. That Big 3 left a big mark, starting a trend for the rest of the association. That’s why many people believe those Celtics are responsible for the superteam tendency we saw in the 2010s.
Well, Paul Pierce doesn’t think the same, as he recently pointed out the differences between his team and the squads assembled after that. ‘The Truth’ made it clear that the superteam wasn’t built under the same circumstances as the rest, as they needed a bit of luck to land Allen and Garnett.
“I take a lot of pride in that [winning NBA title with the team that drafted him] and hang my hat on that. We’re in a different era, a different time. It’s different now. Players move around a lot. They manufacture their teams. The way we did it was a little different,” Pierce said, via Mass Live. “People will say I played on the new era super team, but it’s like, we had to get lucky. We got lucky with the draft pick, we got lucky with the trade, we got lucky with Kevin Garnett dropping his no-trade clause.
“So all these things had to line up, whereas today guys manufacture playing with each other, building super teams through free agency, building friendships. And I have nothing against that. That’s why I take so much pride in being with the team I was with so long, going through the tough times and finally being able to win a championship.”
That Celtics team was outstanding. They didn’t get all the criticism that other squads get nowadays. Still, even if they did, Pierce was just happy that things worked in their favor assembling a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.
This Saturday, the Truth will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, getting the biggest honor that any basketball player can receive. He’s been surrounded by controversies recently, but nobody can deny he had a terrific NBA career, doing things that not many could.
