Paul Pierce Passes Larry Legend

I know, I know two blogs in three days is overkill but I had to write this one. I mean I was at the game on Tuesday and got to see it live, it was probably the greatest sporting event that I've ever been to. What am I talking about? Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird, for second place, on the Celtics all time scoring list.

In my life I've watched a lot of sports, which I'm sure you've guessed from the title of my blog, but the one sport that I love more than any other is basketball. More specifically NBA basketball. The team that I love more than any other in the NBA is the Boston Celtics, which if you've read any of my other blogs was probably obvious. I've been blessed growing up in New England and having the Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins, but they all take a back seat to the Celtics for me. Being a huge Celtics fan my whole life I've gotten to watch a lot of players suit up in the green and white, guys like Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, and even the much loved Walter McCarty have come and gone but the one constant, and my favorite player, has been Paul Pierce.

I was twelve years old when I remember sitting down and watching a complete Celtics game from start to finish. It's the only sport where I can remember the first game I ever watched and exactly how it ended. I was watching it up in my room and the Nets had the ball with 2.0 seconds left and a two point lead, all they had to do was get the ball in bounds and the game was over. What happened next set the tone for my obsession. Milt Palacio stole the ball and hit a miracle three from just over half court, winning the game for the Celtics. The whole team mobbed him and had a pig pile on the court, including even Coach Rick Pitino, it was the most exciting sporting event I had ever watched up to that point. Amazingly this made it to Youtube...

From that moment on I was a fan and rarely missed a game. I remember being scared to death when it was reported that Paul Pierce was in critical condition after being stabbed in a nightclub in Philly. I remember being outraged that Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker were left off the all star team in 2001. How could anyone who watched it forget the 21 point 4th quarter comeback against the Nets in game 3 of the 2002 eastern conference finals or the three that Antoine Walker banked in to beat the Lakers earlier in the season? I remember when Paul Pierce had a 2 point first half followed by a 46 point second half to beat the Nets. I remember when Antoine got traded the first time and the Celtics were Paul Pierce's team, he talked about reading books on how to become a leader over the summer and looked ready to take it on. I remember when he failed as the leader during the 2005 playoffs against Indiana and trade rumors ran rampant all summer, one that was even so close that Pierce had to publicly make a statement to kill it. (The trade was Paul Pierce to Portland for Nick Van Exel and the #3 pick in the draft, which would be used to take Chris Paul). The 2005-2006 season is when Paul Pierce finally grew up and it was incredible to watch.

I want to really dig into that 2005-2006 season. The Celtics weren't very successful but really that was secondary. This part of the decade was when star players on bad teams were forcing their way out of town to join good teams, Vince Carter did it, Tracy Mcgrady did it, Kobe forced Shaq out, it was done by seemingly everyone, except Paul Pierce. He finally took the responsibility of being a star player and a franchise guy. It was like he finally understood that the Celtics were HIS team and that it was his job to make sure that they gave maximum effort every night, even if he was starting with Brian Scalabrine, Marcus Banks, and two kids who weren't even old enough to drink in Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. Paul Pierce became a man that season.

Then Paul Pierce did something that I never thought he'd do.....he made me cry. I'm not one to be very emotional, I couldn't tell you the last time I cried out of sadness or anger, but May 30th 2008 was the last time I cried out of happiness. It was the day that Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics won the Eastern Conference Finals by beating the Pistons in six games. I wasn't weeping or anything, just teared up a bit when I saw Paul and Doc Rivers embracing on the court in celebration. The people I was watching with looked at me like I was crazy but they didn't live and die with the Celtics like I had over the last 10 years. For me it was bigger than just a trip to the finals for a team that I liked, it was Paul Pierce coming back from being stabbed, it was the trade that didn't happen with Pierce to Portland, it was about Erick Strickland, Tony Battie, Eric Williams, Milt Palacio, Walter McCarty, Antoine Walker, Al Jefferson, Kenny Anderson, and every other guy that loved being a Celtic that wasn't there to enjoy the moment. So yeah, I cried, but it was like being a parent and seeing your kids grow up, I couldn't have been more proud of any team I've ever watched.

All of this brings us to Tuesday night. I only go to one or two games a year and when I realized that this might be the game that he passed Bird, I was excited to be a witness to history. Going into the game Pierce needed 9 points to tie and 10 points to pass Larry Legend and move into second place on the Celtics' all time scoring list. He started out slow, scoring seven points in the first half, but early in the third quarter it happened, and the Garden exploded.

I chose this fan video as opposed to the live broadcast because it showed how long the standing ovation was for. We stood and cheered from the moment the basket when in, through 3 free throws for the Bobcats, through the timeout that happened after and then through the video that the played for him. At the end of the video that put the spotlight on an empty spot on the banner of retired numbers, indicating that Pierce's 34 will someday join them. That was the moment that really hit home for me, when they showed that banner of retired numbers and I thought about Pierce having his number added, it made me realize just how privileged I'd been to get to watch him play. For the last 14 years I've gotten to watch one of the best scorers in the history of not only the Celtics, but the entire NBA. He was drafted by Boston, was a 9 time all star in Boston, won a championship in Boston, won a Finals MVP in Boston, and hopefully he'll retire in Boston. Paul Pierce may be from Inglewood California, he may have grown up a Lakers' fan, but he will always be a Celtic.

When I heard the experts talking about this accomplishment, they mostly downplayed it and made sure to say that Pierce wasn't in Larry Bird's league. I'll be the first one to say that he isn't in Bird's league but what the experts need to understand is that I'm 23 years old and for my generation of Celtics' fans, Paul Pierce IS our Larry Bird.

It's been a complete honor to watch Paul Pierce play. For as long as I've been watching basketball he's been the best player on my favorite team. The day that he does retire and have his number retired will be bittersweet for me. Much like graduating college or high school, I'll be sad its over but happy that it happened and proud to say that I got to experience it. I heard a dad talking to his young son at the game on Tuesday and he was telling him all about watching Larry Bird back in the 1980's and I smiled to myself thinking that someday I'll be able to go to a game with my kids and tell them about getting to watch Paul Pierce. (Authors Note: For those of you don't know me, I have no kids) For the rest of my life I'll get to be "that guy" who sees the new players and tells people that they're good, but they'd never be better than the guy I grew up watching.

It was a historic day for Paul Pierce and for everyone that has been a fan of his since he came into the league. I've seen a Red Sox vs Yankees game which doubled as Roger Clemens last start in Fenway Park, I saw Manny Ramirez hit his first grand slam as a Red Sox player, and I've been to a dozen Celtics game, but nothing will ever compare to watching Paul Pierce make history in the TD Garden on Tuesday night.

Thanks for reading, be sure to go back and read all my other columns, leave a comment, become a fan of this blog, and let me know if there's anything specific that you'd like to see me write about, I'm open to anything sports related.

-Josh