9 of y’all passed on me. Sorry not sorry.

Paul Pierce takes shot at nine teams that passed on drafting him before Celtics in Hall of Fame speech

Paul Pierce was officially enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night and he used his acceptance speech to help settle the score on the teams that doubted him 22 years ago on draft night.

“Coming out of college, I was a first team All-American, a projected No. 2 pick,” Pierce explained. “I’d like to thank the Clippers, Vancouver Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, the nine teams that passed on me. Thank you for passing on me and adding fuel to my fire. I appreciate

A closer look at the 1998 NBA Draft class showed some perennial All-Stars taken ahead of Pierce, but the vast majority were selections those teams wanted mulligans on just one season into Pierce’s career.


1. Clippers — Michael Olowankandi


2. Grizzlies - Mike Bobby


3. Nuggets - Raef LaFrentz


4. Raptors - Antwan Jamison


5. Warriors - Vince Carter


6. Bucks - Robert Traylor


7. Kings - Jason Williams


8. 76ers - Larry Hughes


9. Mavericks - Dirk Nowitzki


“I’d like to thank Rick Pitino and Lester Conner for going out on a limb and drafting me,” Pierce added in his speech. “To this day, I don’t understand how I slipped to No. 10. I was in shape, my shot was falling, I was running the line drills. I was like, ‘How did I slip to 10?’ But everything happens for a reason.”


Pierce went on to become Boston’s second-leading scorer in franchise history and 19th all-time in NBA scoring with 26,397 points. Pierce had his No. 34 retired by both the Celtics and Kansas and helped Boston land an NBA Championship in 2008, before all the teams that passed on him in 1998.


“I’d like to thank Rick Pitino and Lester Conner for going out on a limb and drafting me,” Pierce said in his speech. “To this day, I don’t understand how I slipped to No. 10. I was in shape, my shot was falling, I was running the line drills. I was like, ‘How did I slip to 10?’ But everything happens for a reason.”


Pierce also spoke fondly of his time in Boston, thanking the team’s ownership and executives, including Danny Ainge.


“Danny Ainge, Wyc Grousbeck, Steve Pagliuca, thank you for believing in me,” Pierce said. “I honestly thought Danny was going to trade me. He came in and was trading everybody. He traded Antoine, I was like, ‘It’s over for me.’ But ya’ll stuck with me. We went through some tough times and I appreciate you. It took 10 years for you to bring (Kevin Garnett) around. I told you in 2006, if we get him, we are going to win it. We had arguments if I was going to go to Minnesota or if he was going to come to the Celtics. It worked out.”


Pierce also earned high praise from his former coach Doc Rivers and ex-teammate Kevin Garnett while highlighting the 16 new inductees in the 2021 Hall of Fame class on Saturday night.

The Bucks actually drafted Dirk #6 and then traded him to Dallas for Robert "Tractor" Traylor. We remember the great deals like Russell for Cliff Hagen, Easy Ed Macaulay and an Ice Capades engagement, and trading the #1 pick for Robert Parish and the #3 pick who turned out to be Kevin McHale, but we don't remember the disasters. Trading Dirk for Tractor Traylor is one.


Bob


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