Actually, Paul Pierce will retire with a somewhat impressive career

[Bigsmoke]

look at his accomplishments right now

20th all time in scoring "surpassed Bird, Barkley, Duncan, Adrian Dantley"
5th in 3 pointers made
1x Champion with a Finals MVP
2 Finals appearances
28th in total steals


not epic but not shabby regardless. top 40 maybe?:confusedshrug:

[Haymaker]

He's a Top 10 Celtic. That's an achievement in itself IMO.

[GrapeApe]

He's had a great career and is generally underrated, especially among casual fans. I don't like the Celtics but I really wanted to see him retire in green.

[fpliii]

look at his accomplishments right now

20th all time in scoring "surpassed Bird, Barkley, Duncan, Adrian Dantley"
5th in 3 pointers made
1x Champion with a Finals MVP
2 Finals appearances
28th in total steals


not epic but not shabby regardless. top 40 maybe?:confusedshrug:

I think that's pushing it, but depending on what someone values he could sneak his way in to the low end. Surefire HOFer though, has a chance at first ballot.

[StocktonFan]

Wasn't he part of the worst celtic record ever too though? - that has to go against him, especially in the weak east.

EDIT: not THE worst, but one of the worst, 06-07 year 24-58
Double EDIT: Whoa, missed 96-97 15-67 - wow

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Wasn't he part of the worst celtic record ever too though? - that has to go against him, especially in the weak east.

EDIT: not THE worst, but one of the worst, 06-07 year 24-58
Double EDIT: Whoa, missed 96-97 15-67 - wow

Pierce only played 47 games in 06-07, including missing most of the 18 game losing streak

[Bigsmoke]

I think that's pushing it, but depending on what someone values he could sneak his way in to the low end. Surefire HOFer though, has a chance at first ballot.

i'm thinking like at exactly #40

[jbryan1984]

The guys a first ballot HOFer, no doubt. He has had a great career and its even more impressive that he has done it all with the same franchise (at least until this trade is approved).

[Funnyfuka]

he s always been underated cause he s butt ugly. Had he been better looking he would have been brought up more often.

[Bigsmoke]

he s always been underated cause he s butt ugly. Had he been better looking he would have been brought up more often.

Lmao

[Rolando]

He has had a excellent career but most of all, he has a great style. He can take it to the hole, excellent mid-range game, and can bomb from distance. Also, when called upon, he can guard some of the best players in the game, like Lebron and Kobe.

Paul Pierce is the Truth.

[albas89]

One of the players who wasted their prime years playing for shitty teams, alongside Garnett, Allen and some others... we'll never know what his full potential would be, just got a glimpse the last 5 years that he got legit help...

For sure top 50 all time in my mind and 1st ballot HOFer, but unfortunately I think he'll get in 2nd ballot... amazing career nevertheless, especially when you think of what he's been through (stabbing incident, tough years in Boston, etc.)!

[cos88]

49 on the insidehoops top 100.

i think he can be in the top 40. great player :applause:

[STATUTORY]

why is it surprising? Paul Pierce has been consistently a great player, the guy outdueled Lebron in his prime. His game was never built on flash but you can't question his effectiveness or longevity. There's a smoothness to his game as well that's understated, it's like he's moving in slow motion but he always seem to get where he wants to go, not so much last couple of seasons but even as recent as 3 years ago I would say that was true.

[Boston C's]

I think top 40 is pushing it...I have him right outside my top 50 but he def has a case for top 50

[rhythmic]

Top 40? :oldlol:
I never even considered him close to top 50.
For example, was his career really better then Ray Allen's?
Allen broke records and won more; considered the best shooter of all-time by many. His legacy just stands out more to me then someone like Pierce. Allen will never be considered top 50, ever.

Pierce is somewhere in the low 50's range or mid 60's. It's tough to give him a place off the top of my head but I seriously don't think there is only 39 players better then him all-time.

The thing I'll remember most about Paul is his versatile scoring prowess, clutch ability and loyalty. Terrific player but people are jumping the gun on his placement all-time, in my opinion.

[rhythmic]

I think top 40 is pushing it...I have him right outside my top 50 but he def has a case for top 50

If he plays 2-3 more years, averages around 14-16 PPG and wins a championship; then yes, I'd seriously consider him in the top 50.

The most impressive thing about Pierce (that I never realized) is he is actually 20th all-time in scoring. :eek:

That's insane, I totally missed that in the original post. Maybe I need to review history a little before talking. :facepalm

[Boston C's]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[Boston C's]

If he plays 2-3 more years, averages around 14-16 PPG and wins a championship; then yes, I'd seriously consider him in the top 50.

The most impressive thing about Pierce (that I never realized) is he is actually 20th all-time in scoring. :eek:

That's insane, I totally missed that in the original post. Maybe I need to review history a little before talking. :facepalm

the big 3 of Allen Garnett and Pierce I believe are all in the top 25 in scoring...pretty sick lol

k.g 15, pierce 20, allen 21

[rhythmic]

the big 3 of Allen Garnett and Pierce I believe are all in the top 25 in scoring...pretty sick lol

k.g 15, pierce 20, allen 21

:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: 1 for each of their careers.

[Boston C's]

[QUOTE=rhythmic

[East_Stone_Ya]

great career but sad that he won't be retiring as Celtic :(

[Dragonyeuw]

If you look at that top 50 list established in 1996, and some of the names on it, and look at what Pierce has done, you can very easily make a case that he belongs in top 50 discussion. Is someone like Clyde Drexler really much better than him, either as a player or in terms of accolades/achievements? And Clyde is considered top 50....

[Ancient Legend]

He's an extremly richman's Antwan Jamison. A lot of nice cumulative stats, and a finals MVP to boot, but there are tons of other players that I would choose above him. He's not top 50 all time. Perhaps 75. And yes, Clyde was slightly better than him if you saw him play. Pierce did nothing until Garnett and Ray came in, Clyde lead his team to the finals in 90 and 92.

[rhythmic]

If you look at that top 50 list established in 1996, and some of the names on it, and look at what Pierce has done, you can very easily make a case that he belongs in top 50 discussion. Is someone like Clyde Drexler really much better than him, either as a player or in terms of accolades/achievements? And Clyde is considered top 50....

Yes, Clyde is quite easily better then Pierce. WTF?

[Kevin_Garnett_5]

Very underrated. He's probably top 45-50 to me. People forget that he was 4 points away from a second Finals MVP in 2010 against Kobe's Lakers. He carried the Celtics through Game's 4 and 5 of that series.

[secund2nun]

Good player, but if anything I find him to be another typical overrated perimeter player hyped up even more because he plays in a big market.

[Dragonyeuw]

Yes, Clyde is quite easily better then Pierce. WTF?

I didn't make the argument that Pierce was better, I asked is Clyde 'much' better than him. And since we're on that topic, and you feel Clyde is 'easily better' to the point where in your mind it's obvious, can you back up your contention with a little more detail?

Career numbers:

Clyde: 20.4ppg,6.1rpg,5.6apg,47% shooting

1 title at tail-end of prime

Pierce:21.8ppg,6.0rpg, 3.9apg,44% shooting

1 title with FMVP

Who's the better scorer? Shooter? One could argue Pierce is better overall in both categories, or least on the same tier as a scorer. I believe he's the overall better shooter, and has the more versatile skillset.

Rebounder? They're about par with each other.

Passer? Clyde is a better passer probably, but it's not an overwhelming edge. Pierce was a capable playmaker in the passing department.

Defender? Gotta go Pierce here. Pierce has more than held his own defensively against all the great perimeter players of the 2000's, while getting his own on the offensive side. Clyde was an Ok defender at best.

Clutch? Gonna go with Pierce, though this is an intangible quality.

Overall, it's not a ridiculous comparison to make.

[Electric Slide]

Unless you overrate older players, he's pretty clearly top 50.

The problem is that people's opinion on certain players change only in retrospect. It's stupid but that's just how it is, probably due to respect or something stupid.

[Bigsmoke]

Congrats Pierce

[JellyBean]

Paul Pierce has had a nice career. He will be in the Hall of Fame one day. I am not going to say first ballot but he will be there. I got him in the top 60 of all-time greats.

[moe94]

he s always been underated cause he s butt ugly. Had he been better looking he would have been brought up more often.

What? How is he any uglier than any other top 50 player? :rolleyes:

[IncarceratedBob]

why is it surprising? Paul Pierce has been consistently a great player, the guy outdueled Lebron in his prime. His game was never built on flash but you can't question his effectiveness or longevity. There's a smoothness to his game as well that's understated, it's like he's moving in slow motion but he always seem to get where he wants to go, not so much last couple of seasons but even as recent as 3 years ago I would say that was true.
This isn't saying much IMO.

Dirk, Terry, Pierce, Garnett, Howard, Duncan, Parker, etc all have owned LeBron h2h in a playoff series. Nice accomplishment but it's been done too many times to hold any weight

[houston]

top 75 for sure

[MiseryCityTexas]

I remember the good ole days when he actually used to dunk on people.

[Draz]

Used to destroy my Knicks. Still doing it, today he single handedly probably knocked us out the playoffs alone purposely missing those free throws etc

[cltcfn2924]

Good player, but if anything I find him to be another typical overrated perimeter player hyped up even more because he plays in a big market.

Huh? The man is the #20 ALL TIME NBA scorer, in his prime his whole game revolved around going to the hoop. Did you ever even watch him play?

[Smoke117]

I've honestly never cared for Paul Pierce and frankly until the "big three" he wasn't considered all that great. He was considered a diva for the first half of his career and he and Walker chucked away. The one thing I did find impressive about him was the fact that he was an average athlete at best, but he he was really crafty and was able to get to the line a lot because of that. I always found the whole give to Pierce ISO and have him take a step back jumper idiotic especially when the big three was formed. It was a low percentage shot that made absolutely no sense to me when a couple screens and Ray Allen on the run was a much better shot. Kevin Garnetts post up game was always hot and cold but I'd take that over Pierce and his predictable step back jumper too. In that game when Ray had 50 points and kept saving them I never understood why Doc went away from Ray who carried the entire offense all night hitting shot after shot...and then drew a play for Pierce instead of Ray Allen. The guy who was basically keeping them in the game the entire time and and they go away from him at the end? Ray was was so ridiculous that game i'd rather have him take a shot with a hand in his face than Pierce take a wide open shot that night.

[iamgine]

I don't think Pierce's career is impressive at all.

Made all NBA 3rd team 3 times...once 2nd team. His best MVP share is 7th....most times he's not even in the talk. In 16 years career.

Amar'e Stoudemire had a much much better resume than that...barring the ring.

[JohnFreeman]

I love Pierces game

http://redsarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Truthkiss.gifhttp://redsarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Truthkiss.gif
http://redsarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Truthkiss.gifhttp://redsarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Truthkiss.gif

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Top 10 player of past decade
Top 10 SF ever

There nikkas who think Melo is better than prime Pierce:facepalm :facepalm

[KyrieTheFuture]

Top 10 player of past decade
Top 10 SF ever

There nikkas who think Melo is better than prime Pierce:facepalm :facepalm
:biggums: :biggums: :biggums:

[JohnFreeman]

Top 10 player of past decade
Top 10 SF ever

There nikkas who think Melo is better than prime Pierce:facepalm :facepalm
:kobe:

[salwan]

he will be greatly missed:applause:
inb4 he knocks out the heat in the playoffs:lol

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

:biggums: :biggums: :biggums:
:biggums: :biggums:

Shaq
KG
Kobe
Duncan
Dirk
Lebron
Wade
Pierce
CP3
Kidd/Nash

:biggums: :biggums:

[JGXEN]

I don't think Pierce's career is impressive at all.

Made all NBA 3rd team 3 times...once 2nd team. His best MVP share is 7th....most times he's not even in the talk. In 16 years career.

Amar'e Stoudemire had a much much better resume than that...barring the ring.
Anyone who scores 25 000 points is impressive. There's only 18 player in the history of the NBA who have scored 25 000 points, and you're telling me that this guy who is one of them does not have an impressive career? Pierce at the age 31 won his ring being the go to guy offensively for one of the most dominant championship team while guarding the best player on opposing teams, while Amare at the age of 31 is a max contract player who comes off the bench and only plays on one end of the court.

[iamgine]

Anyone who scores 25 000 points is impressive. There's only 18 player in the history of the NBA who have scored 25 000 points, and you're telling me that this guy who is one of them does not have an impressive career? Pierce at the age 31 won his ring being the go to guy offensively for one of the most dominant championship team while guarding the best player on opposing teams, while Amare at the age of 31 is a max contract player who comes off the bench and only plays on one end of the court.
Him scoring 25000 is impressive. Him lasting 16 years in the NBA is impressive. His career...not so much.

[kNIOKAS]

Him scoring 25000 is impressive. Him lasting 16 years in the NBA is impressive. His career...not so much.
How that is not the career? What in the blue hell do you call career then?

[sundizz]

Yeah to me Paul Pierce is criminally underrated now, and definitely will be moreso once his career is over.

He lacks that eye popping athletic ability that almost every single great wing has.

However, he is the EXACT perfect mold of a player to build a team around. Great teammate, and plays the game the right way. He consistently uses the midrange, gets to the rim, and makes the right decisions. Just as importantly, he's damn clutch too.

From 1998 to now outside of Kobe, Lebron and Wade he's very arguably been the 4th best perimeter player. His stats don't really tell the story of how integral he is to team success. He has that calm, playoff style of basketball that is very very hard to find. Others can be great in the regular season/drop great stats even in the playoffs but his style of hoops is what you want for a contender.

There have of course been years where an individual players, such as TMAC, have been an entire tier above his ability. However, their lack of ability to sustain that is just as important. Additionally, there ability to translate their skills to playoff success is a big knock on them.

Same reason I don't have any point guards over him. It's pretty damn hard to win a title with a point guard as your best (or even 2nd best) player. Being pg and one player dominant is not really the recipe for title success in the NBA unless u are 6'9.

I'm sure many would disagree. If I were a GM I'd happily take a prime Pierce as my #2 option if given the chance. You know he'll play team ball, not be afraid of the big moments, and be very coachable. He went from 25 ppg to 19 ppg with Ray and KG arriving. Not every superstar is able, and willing, to do that and still be just as important to the team.

[CarlosBoozer]

he s always been underated cause he s butt ugly. Had he been better looking he would have been brought up more often.
:lebronamazed:

[aboss4real24]

He's been overrated since the big 3 formed

He jus isnt that great

He's a volume scorer,inefficient, inconsistent on d#,

AND HE DOESNT KEEP HIMSELF IN GOOD SHAPE

Dont use the excuse of him being stabbed

50cent was shot 9 times

and kept himself n great shape , n hes a rapper

[Dragonyeuw]

Him scoring 25000 is impressive. Him lasting 16 years in the NBA is impressive. His career...not so much.

How do you made the first two comments, and then arrive at the last comment? Does not compute....

[HomieWeMajor]

He is a black man that is liked in Boston. That alone is his biggest accomplishment.

[aboss4real24]

How do you made the first two comments, and then arrive at the last comment? Does not compute....

25k points 16 years doesnt automatically make u great, #s go way more depth then that

he was a failure till KG AND RAY Saved his career

[VIP2000]

25k points 16 years doesnt automatically make u great, #s go way more depth then that

he was a failure till KG AND RAY Saved his career



It's not like he was Antawn Jamison or Kevin Martin accumulating stats on bad teams (although his team from 05-07 was pretty poor). Pierce made the playoffs several times with Antoine (4-pointer) Walker as his best teammate.

[Rolando]

Pierce is a leader. Look what he's doing with the Nets now. The Truth is setting the tone there.

I wish them the best in the playoffs.

[sketchy]

Okay nevermind, maybe he isn't getting as much praise as I thought. Lol.

"KG and Ray saved PP's career..." as if he didn't do just as much for them. smh.

[ballup]

Never knew he was that high up in 3s made. :applause:

[kNIOKAS]

He's been overrated since the big 3 formed

He jus isnt that great

He's a volume scorer,inefficient, inconsistent on d#,

AND HE DOESNT KEEP HIMSELF IN GOOD SHAPE

Dont use the excuse of him being stabbed

50cent was shot 9 times

and kept himself n great shape , n hes a rapper
This shape comment is very silly. When he was out of shape?

[kNIOKAS]

Yeah to me Paul Pierce is criminally underrated now, and definitely will be moreso once his career is over.

He lacks that eye popping athletic ability that almost every single great wing has.

However, he is the EXACT perfect mold of a player to build a team around. Great teammate, and plays the game the right way. He consistently uses the midrange, gets to the rim, and makes the right decisions. Just as importantly, he's damn clutch too.

From 1998 to now outside of Kobe, Lebron and Wade he's very arguably been the 4th best perimeter player. His stats don't really tell the story of how integral he is to team success. He has that calm, playoff style of basketball that is very very hard to find. Others can be great in the regular season/drop great stats even in the playoffs but his style of hoops is what you want for a contender.

There have of course been years where an individual players, such as TMAC, have been an entire tier above his ability. However, their lack of ability to sustain that is just as important. Additionally, there ability to translate their skills to playoff success is a big knock on them.

Same reason I don't have any point guards over him. It's pretty damn hard to win a title with a point guard as your best (or even 2nd best) player. Being pg and one player dominant is not really the recipe for title success in the NBA unless u are 6'9.

I'm sure many would disagree. If I were a GM I'd happily take a prime Pierce as my #2 option if given the chance. You know he'll play team ball, not be afraid of the big moments, and be very coachable. He went from 25 ppg to 19 ppg with Ray and KG arriving. Not every superstar is able, and willing, to do that and still be just as important to the team.
Yet, he was wildly athletic. Just that his game half of the time was being oldschool and using fundamentals. Other half of the time he was a beast. I don't know why people tend to forget that.

[sketchy]

Pierce is a leader. Look what he's doing with the Nets now. The Truth is setting the tone there.

I wish them the best in the playoffs.
^^ Seriously, just this. Paul went to the Nets with the expectation of being a role starter (some people here were saying he should come off the bench), but when that didn't work and the Nets started off terribly, he redefined his role by changing his game to play power forward and is now the leader of the team in every sense of the word.

[sketchy]

Yeah to me Paul Pierce is criminally underrated now, and definitely will be moreso once his career is over.

He lacks that eye popping athletic ability that almost every single great wing has.

However, he is the EXACT perfect mold of a player to build a team around. Great teammate, and plays the game the right way. He consistently uses the midrange, gets to the rim, and makes the right decisions. Just as importantly, he's damn clutch too.

From 1998 to now outside of Kobe, Lebron and Wade he's very arguably been the 4th best perimeter player. His stats don't really tell the story of how integral he is to team success. He has that calm, playoff style of basketball that is very very hard to find. Others can be great in the regular season/drop great stats even in the playoffs but his style of hoops is what you want for a contender.

There have of course been years where an individual players, such as TMAC, have been an entire tier above his ability. However, their lack of ability to sustain that is just as important. Additionally, there ability to translate their skills to playoff success is a big knock on them.

Same reason I don't have any point guards over him. It's pretty damn hard to win a title with a point guard as your best (or even 2nd best) player. Being pg and one player dominant is not really the recipe for title success in the NBA unless u are 6'9.

I'm sure many would disagree. If I were a GM I'd happily take a prime Pierce as my #2 option if given the chance. You know he'll play team ball, not be afraid of the big moments, and be very coachable. He went from 25 ppg to 19 ppg with Ray and KG arriving. Not every superstar is able, and willing, to do that and still be just as important to the team.
Preach, my friend. Preach.

[Rocketswin2013]

This is a guy who's had several seasons with more TOV than APG. I don't hate on players but he's starting to become very overrated. And his playoff play is also overrated.

[LockoutOver11]

One of the cooler jerseys to rock back in the day... Pierce 34

The Truth is also one of the cooler nicknames...

That move to brooklyn was weird... Thought he would always be a celtic...

[Dragonyeuw]

25k points 16 years doesnt automatically make u great, #s go way more depth then that

he was a failure till KG AND RAY Saved his career



And how much success did KG and Ray have prior to joining Boston? All 3 were great players stuck on teams going nowhere, that's why they teamed up.

[305Baller]

Pierce is awesome.
one of the best swingmen of this last generation..