Paul Pierce was the original Carmelo Anthony – until Danny Ainge put together “The Big Three.”
Pierce was the No. 10 overall draft pick in the 1998 draft that saw Michael Olowokandi go No. 1 to the Clippers over players such as Mike Bibby (No. 2), Antawn Jamison (No. 4), Vince Carter (No. 5) and Dirk Nowitzki (No. 9). His career very nearly came to an end in September 2000, when he was stabbed 11 times at a nightclub. He recovered to become one of the NBA’s top scorers. He averaged more than 25 points per game five times over seven seasons. He topped 20.0 in PER in six of his first nine years in the NBA and 10.0 in win shares in five of the nine.
The points weren’t amounting to much though. In Pierce’s first nine seasons in the NBA, the Celtics made the playoffs just four times. Up until the 2007-2008 season, “The Truth” had won just 48 percent of his regular season games and 43 percent of his playoff games.
Before the 2007-2008 season, Ainge, the Celtics general manager, went all-in in pursuit of an NBA title. He traded the No. 5 pick and two players for Ray Allen and the 35th pick. Then a month later, he traded five players, two draft picks and money for Kevin Garnett. Pierce was 30, Allen 32 and Garnett 31. It was a tremendous gamble that paid off. The Celtics won the NBA title in 2007-2008 – with Pierce winning NBA Finals MVP - made the finals again in 2009-2010 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011-2012.
Pierce ended his career by making the playoffs 10 straight seasons with Boston, Brooklyn, Washington and the L.A. Clippers. He ended up winning 56 percent of his regular season games and 52 percent of his playoff games. It’s the late career surge the carried him far up the rankings rather than being on the outside looking in.
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Paul Pierce bio info |
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Career |
1998-2017 |
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Games |
1,343 |
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Points |
19.7 |
|
Rebounds |
5.6 |
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Assists |
3.5 |
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FG Pct. |
44.5% |
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All-Star games |
10 |
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NBA MVPs |
0 |
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NBA Titles |
1 |
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Playoff seasons |
14 |
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Playoff games |
170 |
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Points |
18.7 |
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Rebounds |
5.8 |
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Assists |
3.4 |
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FG Pct. |
42.3% |
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Hall of Fame |
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Top 100 rankings |
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Points |
Top 100 ranking |
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1-year |
302.43 |
84th |
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5-year |
1,353.47 |
73rd |
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10-year |
2,452.66 |
54th |
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Career |
3,485.65 |
32nd |
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Paul Pierce at his peak |
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2007-2008 |
Pierce |
Top 5 |
Points |
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PER |
19.6 |
26.97 |
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Win Shares |
12.4 |
15.00 |
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Box +/- |
4.7 |
8.40 |
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VORP |
4.9 |
7.20 |
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Total Advanced Stats |
41.6 |
57.56 |
72.27 |
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Playoff PER |
17.4 |
26.14 |
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Win Shares |
3.0 |
3.27 |
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Box +/- |
3.9 |
9.35 |
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VORP |
1.5 |
1.83 |
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Total Advanced Stats |
25.8 |
40.59 |
63.56 |
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Reg. Season Win % |
80.00 |
80.00 |
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Playoff Win % |
61.54 |
61.54 |
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MVP Voting (75 points) |
1/1,260 |
.06 |
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Playoff MVP (25 points) |
25 |
25.0 |
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Total Score |
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302.43 |
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Pierce’s 10 greatest seasons |
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2007-2008 |
302.43 |
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2001-2002 |
280.09 |
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2004-2005 |
271.41 |
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2010-2011 |
257.39 |
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2002-2003 |
242.16 |
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2011-2012 |
240.42 |
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2009-2010 |
239.02 |
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2008-2009 |
221.25 |
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2014-2015 |
211.52 |
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2013-2014 |
186.99 |
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Career winning percentage |
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W |
L |
Pct. |
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Regular Season |
758 |
595 |
56.02% |
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Playoffs |
88 |
82 |
51.76% |
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