Pierce: "It hurt" to be traded, wanted to spend entire career in one city 'like Kobe, Duncan & Dirk'
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett sat down with Jackie MacMullan earlier today after being introduced as members of the Brooklyn Nets, an interview that just aired on the 6pm SportsCenter.
Forgive me as I am a poor blogger without DVR, so I'm unable to rewind and get exact quotes, but I did get an accurate paraphrasing from Pierce, on wanting to finish his career in Boston.
That's the only thing about this ordeal, you just wish that — you just look at the other players like Tim Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, you look at all those guys — they win a championship there, similar to what I've done. It really kind of hurt, you look throughout the season and Mark Cuban says, "We're never trading Dirk", or they say "We're never trading Tim", "We're gonna re-sign Kobe", and nothing really being said about me — I'm in trade rumors. So that part, you know you think about it, it hurts.
KG was actually the one who brought it up, saying that Pierce gave "everything to that city" and deserved a chance to finish his career in Boston, to which Jackie Mac also agreed.
Of course, Pierce himself said earlier today that he would have accepted the same deal if he were Danny Ainge, but at an emotional level, this is clearly difficult for him, as it should be. The longest tenured athlete in Boston had grown roots here, and didn't want to leave. That's incredibly awesome to see in this day and age.
The duo also talked about how much they enjoy playing together, and about how easy it will be to accept Jason Kidd as their head coach (they both have a ton of respect for him and his basketball IQ).
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