One More Year For The Truth

I don't like the idea of Paul Pierce playing for another season as it will only delay his number getting retired by the Celtics for another year.

In fact, I have not liked him playing for other teams either, but I do know that he did bring back four Nets first round picks.

bobheckler wrote:http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/07/doc_rivers_plans_to_let_paul_p.html



Doc Rivers plans to let Paul Pierce retire as a member of the Boston Celtics if he steps away from the game


Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce smiles during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com



on July 28, 2016 at 2:00 PM



Doc Rivers plans to let Paul Pierce retire as a member of the Boston Celtics if the star decides to end his distinguished career this summer.

"If Paul decides to retire then we're going to make sure that Boston picks him up for one day and he retires a Celtic because that's what he should retire as," Rivers said during an episode of The Vertical podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski, which was released early Thursday. "So we have all that in place. We just don't know what he's going to do."

A couple of days ago, the LA Times' Brad Turner reported conflicting information about Pierce's future. One source told Turner that Pierce intends to return to the Clippers for his 19th season, but another told Turner that Pierce -- who is under contract with Los Angeles -- still hasn't made up his mind and expects to decide in a few weeks.

"I think Paul's going back and forth on it, and I want to give him room," Rivers said on the podcast. "I think he deserves it. From a team perspective you would love that he made his decision eight weeks ago. I think there are certain guys that you just have to give time to, and Paul's one of them."

Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan have already retired after this past season, and Kevin Garnett still hasn't decided whether to return for another year.

"It may go down as the greatest retirement summer in NBA history," Rivers said, hailing the competitiveness of that group. "The biggest thing, I think, those guys knew how to play. Kevin's knowledge of the game -- and Kevin doesn't want to hear it, I literally talked to Kevin last night -- but Kevin could be the greatest big man teacher in the game right now if he wanted to be. Whenever he did do it in practice there's no one better than that. Paul Pierce is an NBA encyclopedia. You can ask Paul Pierce any historical question about the NBA. He knows it, he studies it, he loves it. Duncan's the same way. What's neat about all three of them (is) they're all completely different individuals. I've never seen three different people, and Kobe can be four different individuals, yet all great in their own right."

Rivers has discussed Garnett's impact on the Celtics organization plenty of times before, but reflected on it again with Wojnarowski.

"I've never seen anything like it," Rivers said. "It's the biggest culture change that I've ever seen by one NBA player. Now I didn't believe it from afar. I always looked at Kevin like, there's no way some guy's that excited every night and that nuts. And when he joined our team, his energy at practice, his energy on the airplane -- I used to get on our guys, they played cards and stayed up talking about the game the entire East to West flights. And I used to get concerned, like guys, you've got to sleep at some point. That team never slept. It was a crazy ride and a great group, but they lived on something else because when Tom Thibodeau is sleeping more than the players you know something's wrong. And that was the group. It was just a great group, but it was all driven by Kevin, his willingness to sacrifice. The biggest thing with Kevin that I wish the stars understood the most is he had this ability to be coached and to trust. And when he gives his trust to me as a coach, then it's easier to coach the team. I mean complete trust. Duncan (was) very similar in that right."

"Every coach, and I say this whenever I speak at clinics, should have had the right to coach Kevin for one minute," Rivers added. "It would have made their lives better. It would have made them better coaches because when you can get on him -- and I got on him -- and he says yes sir, I'm sorry, my fault. Some of the times later when I watched I may have been wrong. He still took it. It makes your job really easy."


bob


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It would  be great to see KG  and Duncan go into the HOF together , Garnett talking smack into Duncan`s ear at the ceremony.

Duncan can go in with Kobe and rightfully share the limelight with that attention whore and make everyone aware at the HOF ceremony of who was the only player in the NBA you'd rather have had than Kobe from 1997-2016. 

Pierce and KG should play one more year. KG so he can be on the only player to play in four decades of his life (teen, 20's, 30's, 40's) and Pierce so he can perform slightly better than last season and hit a few playoff daggers like with Washington in 2015. They can enter the HOF together a year after Kobe and make the ceremony a more fun affair revolving around their time together in Boston.

Ram wrote:Duncan can go in with Kobe and rightfully share the limelight with that attention whore and make everyone aware at the HOF ceremony of who was the only player in the NBA you'd rather have had than Kobe from 1997-2016. 

Pierce and KG should play one more year. KG so he can be on the only player to play in four decades of his life (teen, 20's, 30's, 40's) and Pierce so he can perform slightly better than last season and hit a few playoff daggers like with Washington in 2015. They can enter the HOF together a year after Kobe and make the ceremony a more fun affair revolving around their time together in Boston.

^^^This^^^