Mike Gorman: "Paul's heart remains in Boston"

Mike Gorman sat down with the former Celtics captain for an interesting interview yesterday. Photo and video courtesy of CSNNE:


Mike Gorman then came on Toucher and Rich by himself in what became an awesome, passionate interview about Paul Pierce.

"Paul has a great attachment to Boston. He always wanted to retire a Celtic and he had no desire to go anywhere. He wanted to retire a Celtic and still wants to come back, which I think is a possibility. Paul's contract is up at the end of this year, and the question is does he want to continue to play or not? I asked him directly last night and he really left the door wide open. He said he would come back and work in the front office, assistant coach, he smiled and said he would come back as a player and really smiled and said he would come back as a broadcaster. Paul wants to stay in basketball, and his heart remains in Boston. He knew he was connected to this city, but when he left and came back he really knew how connected he was."

Gorman was very adamant regarding whether or not Paul will get his jersey retired.

"I have a problem putting Garnett and Pierce in the same category. Paul is special. Pierce spent 15 years of his career here--his entire basketball career here. He came in a boy and left a man--a family man. He had a great relationship with the city, labored through all those terrible years when the team was awful. Paul is special, and his number goes up no matter what. With Kevin, I think there's a debate. I think the debate leans toward yes, but you can't lump those two together. I would tend to put Kevin more with Ray."

Mike Gorman has been with the Celtics for over thirty years, but does not hesitate that Pierce is unquestionably his favorite all time player. His admiration for Paul was clear as he recalled one of his favorite stories about him.

"Paul took his job as the captain of the Celtics very seriously. Very seriously. I'll never forget one night right after he had been appointed captain he got on the plane with a Barnes & Noble bag and it looked pretty heavy. That's not something I've seen in my years covering basketball, players carrying around heavy Barnes & Noble bags. Pierce was sitting alone in this compartment by himself and spread out in front of him were a half dozen books on leadership. That was Paul."

Listen to the full interview here. Pretty powerful stuff.