Paul Pierce on leaving Boston, "I plan on playing ten more years"

TMZ caught up with Paul Pierce coming out of the grocery store (where else would you expect TMZ to get a scoop?) and got one short but interesting quote from the Celtics legend.

TMZ:
35-year-old Pierce was leaving a grocery store in L.A. with a bunch of water (it's important to hydrate) when we asked how he felt about being traded from the Celtics to the Brooklyn Nets this late in his prolific career.

Paul's reaction was CLASSIC -- "Who says it's the end of my career? I plan on playing ten more years dude."

10 more years? Let's say Pierce follows through with that plan. He'd end his career at age 45 after playing 25 years in the league.

Former Celtic Robert Parish has the longest career in the NBA after playing 21 years, I guess Pierce plans to shatter that record. Of course, what else would you expect from Pierce?

While Pierce is quite obviously not the same player he once was, I could definitely see him being the type to play as long as possible even if he's not performing at an all-star level (a la Michael Jordan). Pierce has the insane confidence and love for the game that will keep him in it for awhile. While there have been many rumors that Kevin Garnett could retire soon, there have been no whispers that the same could be true with Pierce.