While Paul Pierce and Danny Ainge enjoyed years of Celtics basketball together — culminating in the 2008 NBA championship — the start wasn’t exactly smooth.
Pierce was drafted 10th overall in the 1998 NBA Draft, where he was viewed as a talented scorer but the Celtics weren’t contenders early in his career. Ainge was brought in to change that when he jumped from the broadcast booth to the front office in 2003.
Ainge was quick to make alterations, including trading away Antoine Walker 10 days before the start of the 2003-04 season. That’s right around when Pierce thought his time with the Celtics was going to come to an end.
Of course, reality’s completely different. The longtime Celtic enjoyed 15 years in Boston, becoming the franchise’s second all-time leading scorer. He was officially enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday as he made his speech at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Pierce goes into the Hall as part of the Class of 2021, which includes Celtics greats Bill Russell (as a coach) and play-by-play broadcaster Mike Gorman.
“I honestly thought Danny was going to trade me,” Pierce said. “He came in and traded everybody. He traded Antonie and I was like, ‘Man, it’s over for me.’ But y’all stuck with me.”
Pierce was eventually traded from the Celtics to the Nets, but that blockbuster deal wasn’t until 2013. The treasure trove of draft picks and pick swaps are still the foundational pieces of the Celtics of present day.
In between the trade, the C’s won the 2008 title when Ainge brought Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to Boston. The Celtics went on to win the title and came close to a second championship with the core when they made it to the NBA Finals in 2010.
Pierce thanked Ainge, along with Celtics co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca during his speech Saturday. Other names included Rick Pitino and Lester Conner, who drafted Pierce in 1998.
“We went through some tough times and I appreciate you,” Pierce said. “It took 10 years for you to bring (Garnett) around. I told y’all in 2006 that if we get him, we’re going to win it. True story. We had arguments on if I was going to go to Minnesota or if he was going to the Celtics. It all worked out.”
While Pierce worried about being traded early, Ainge viewed him as a core piece of the franchise. In an exclusive interview with MassLive’s Brian Robb, Ainge detailed how he didn’t love the Celtics’ roster, but he did love having Pierce as an integral piece.
There were some other rumors that swirled regarding the Celtics and trading Pierce ahead of the Brooklyn deal in 2013. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted earlier in the week that there was a nearly-done deal to bring Pierce to Dallas after the 2008 title. Cuban claims a third team pulled out of the deal instead.
Ainge doused some cold water on that, saying they were never close to trading Pierce at that time. He added “nothing ever got close” and he had no recollection around that moment. He admitted there were some conversations, but never anything serious.
Ad Choices