After 19 seasons in the NBA, basketball legend Paul Pierce (also known as “The Truth”) hung up his jersey for good, retiring from the league in 2017.
Since then, he has made quite a name for himself in the media world, first serving as an ESPN broadcaster before resorting to making regular appearances on talk shows and podcasts.
We’ve really gotten to see a new side of Pierce over these pasts few years, as more and more stories about his life and career get brought to light.
Recently, Pierce made another, rather interesting, comment about his time in the league, revealing the time Lakers fans broke his heart.
Here’s the quote, which The Truth shared during his Hall of Fame induction press conference:
“You know being a kid from Los Angeles. Playing for Boston, yes a rival, but, you know, a kid from LA to get booed? You know, being at home. You know. most places we went to different cities.
But I knew I had to embrace it and I knew what it was, you know. It’s because of the jersey I wore maybe. If I had to play for a different franchise, it would have been different. But it really hit me when I played an all-star game in LA and I got booed in LA, and I’m like, ‘wow, I’m from here, you know?’
That’s just pretty much the story of my career. Being an underdog, not really being liked, you know, I guess somebody has to be the villain.”
(start at: 9:50)
Paul Pierce is actually an L.A. native and probably grew up a Lakers fan. No doubt, it would have been poetic for him to get drafted to his hometown team.
Unfortunately, he ended up going to their biggest rival instead, the Boston Celtics, practically ensuring that Paul would become public enemy number 1 for Los Angeles.
Eventually, Paul did embrace the reality of his situation and went on to beat the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals and earn a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
So, it’s fair to say everything worked out just fine.
