What's next for Paul Pierce?
Could this be it? Instead of calling game, has Paul Pierce called it a career leaving us with this as the last image of him on a basketball court?
If you don't already know, Pierce didn't get the shot off in time and the Wizards lost Game 6 to the Hawks 94-91 ending their season.
After the game, a discouraged Pierce talked about his future in the NBA.
"I don't even know if I am going to play basketball anymore. These seasons get harder and harder every year, every day. Summers get even harder when you start getting back in shape. I'm 37 years old. I'm top two or three oldest in the league."
The 17 year veteran averaged 14.6 points per game and was the most exciting player in the NBA during the playoffs until his exit on Friday night. He hit every clutch shot imaginable for Washington to go along with some grade A trash talk that Celtic fans remember all too well.
One thing you can say about Pierce is he empties the tank while on these playoff runs, never holding back or taking a play off. That ultimately, however, may be the reason why he hangs it up.
"Truthfully I don't have too much more of these efforts left, if any," Pierce pondered to himself while walking off the court on Friday.
So where does The Truth go from here?
He can exersise his $5.5 million player option and come back to Washington for the final year on his deal, he could become a free agent or retire. The likelihood of Pierce retiring, to me, is slim, so the obvious question becomes: Where does he play?
The answer is obvious: Boston.
Paul Pierce should return to the Boston Celtics to finish up his career.
Fans do not want, but would reluctantly welcome, Pierce to sign a one day contract to technacly retire a Celtics. No, they want to see him in a Celtics uniform hitting three's on the parquet one more time.
And it's entirely possible.
Pierce could leave Washington knowing he gave them everything he could during his single season there.
"I'm just thankful that I was able to, you know, have an influence on this group give something to them," Pierce said after the loss. "Hopefully whether I am here next year or I'm not i can, you know, I've left something with a lot of these young guys that they can carry on for the rest of their careers."
The 37 year old has lived a full NBA life, scoring over 25,000 points, winning an NBA championship and being named a Finals MVP. The only thing left, now, his the final chapter which should be a return back to where it all started.
Boston.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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