The Humorous Truth
The most rewarding part of the Celtics title run for me was watching the rest of the world acknowledge Paul Pierce’s greatness. Having grown up in New England, I watched him destroy defenses nightly in his younger days and, trust me, he was just as good in 2000 as he is now. As a scorer, he actually used to be better given that he’s lost a step or two from the days when he had one of the best spins moves the game has ever seen.
People like to talk about his vast defensive improvements, which are substantial and can be attributed to (A) the natural improvement all good veterans have as they learn the game better, (B) KG’s drill sergeant motivation techniques, and (C) Tom Thibodeau’s system. But most of all, he’s always been a capable defender and now, instead of having to carry the entire 1996 Kentucky Wildcats on his back while taking 24 shots every night, he’s actually able to exert some energy on the defensive side of the ball without worrying about if he’ll have enough in the tank to be the entire offense for the final five minutes of the game.
I’ve also always wondered why people questioned his Hall of Fame credentials. It’s been a no-brainer for years as far as I’m concerned and, regardless of this ring, he’s still going to finish second only to John Havlicek as the teams all time leading scorer. I was supposed to believe this guy wasn’t better than Sam Jones and KC Jones put together?
Paul hams it up at his 30th birthday party. He’s been a pretty funny guy for years. You’re just only seeing it now. (Photo by Photo by Lisa Hornak)
Another little known fact is that Pierce actually has a personality too. I never understood why, but — if anything — most people have always had a negative impression of The Truth. People seem to like thinking athletes are assholes, so it’s not that surprising, I suppose. But, still, I always wondered why he never got any “I got stabbed in the back and neck like nine times” sympathy. Maybe people think he brought it on himself? Or maybe they just didn’t know about it since it came before ESPN turned into TMZ (and even seemed fairly underreported even at the time). If that had happened to Chad Johnson, how many times would we hear about it each season?
I think mostly, however, people think he has no personality just because he is just quiet. Even in his national TV spots, and post-game interviews he rarely says much. But when he does speak, he’s actually always been pretty clever and even outright funny at times. He sort of has the Tim Duncan understated wit going.
On Jimmy Kimmel the other night, he certainly showed his lighter side in full effect, poking fun at Wheel-Chairgate, talking about puking during the parade and openly mocking the Clippers.
Professional funny man Jimmy Kimmell gets in on the humor as well comparing The Truth (who grew up in LA) to classic traitors including Judas, Fredo and American Taliban John Walker Lindh.
