Your Morning Dump... Where Paul Pierce is the greatest scorer in Celtics history*

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“I think [Pierce] was the greatest offensive Celtic ever, in my opinion,” Parish said. “I just think that Paul was more creative. He was a better scorer than Larry and John Havlicek. I think that Larry and John Havlicek and Paul were the best offensive players that the Celtics ever had. I think Paul tops that list in my opinion.”

ESPN Boston: Parish: Pierce ‘greatest offensive Celtic ever’

“This is heresy to some people,” Celtics play-by-play legend Mike Gorman said Saturday. “Tommy says if he had eight seconds or seven seconds left in the game and he had the ball and he could put it in one guy’s hands who’s ever been a Celtic he’d put it in Paul Pierce’s hands. So that’s coming from a pretty good source.”

MassLive: Paul Pierce better than Larry Bird offensively? Boston Celtics legend Robert Parish believes so

*according to Robert Parish

It’s Paul Pierce day, and a bunch of Celtics legends got together to welcome #34 to the retired number club. Among them, Robert Parish, who sent Twitter into a bit of tizzy (Twizzy?) when he dropped that opinion. Which is weird because Tommy Heinsohn spent years on TV saying he thought Pierce was Boston’s best ever offensive player.

What they mean, and Chief kind of said it with the “more creative” remark is that Pierce’s athleticism was a notch above Larry’s, which gave him another regular avenue to score. Bird scored off drives, sure, but the on thing he didn’t have is Pierce’s first step.

That was part of Bird’s allure… he was not the best athlete on the floor at all. Not even close, but he still murdered you every night regardless. Pierce wasn’t the best athlete out there either, but he got where he wanted off the dribble.

So the argument they’re making is that Pierce had more weapons in his arsenal.

I know… I know…

Look, if we’re picking All Time Celtics teams Larry is either going first or second. No one is questioning that. But if you need a bucket with seven seconds on the clock… Paul Pierce isn’t a bad option.

And it’s Paul Pierce day… so let’s not argue over it too much. Let him have it today.

Page 2: Mike Gorman spins wonderful yarns about Pierce

Celtics play-by-play 🐐 Mike Gorman tells the story of newly minted captain Paul Pierce and the two Barnes & Noble bags. pic.twitter.com/i76NQkAENv

— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) February 11, 2018

https://twitter.com/ASherrodblakely/status/962486170230968320

First of all, Mike Gorman is a treasure. I love him.

Secondly, These are awesome Pierce stories. The leadership book story is a very telling insight about how seriously Pierce took his role as captain.

Pierce had a wild ride in Boston (more on this later today to conclude our Retired Numbers Project) and to hear how seriously he took being named captain just confirms how much of a turnaround he’d made from some tumultuous years.

By the way, if you love Mike Gorman telling stories, then you HAVE to listen to him on our podcast. It’s a couple of years old but if you missed it, you missed some great, great stuff.

And Finally…

Pierce in his own words about the number retirement…

“Every day I walk into the practice facility and see those numbers,” Pierce recalled Saturday night, one day before his own jersey retirement ceremony. “Every day in the arena you see these numbers.”

“That was inspirational,” Pierce explained. “Those numbers hanging up there, those banners, it was like, ‘One day I want to be up there. I want to be with this franchise long enough.’ Because when you look at the numbers and see the accomplishments they made, that was an example for me to try to follow. That was the burning desire – every day. It’s like the pressure. It’s like raining every day on you.”

MassLive: Paul Pierce jersey retirement: Dinner for Boston Celtics legend brings out emotions, neat memories

I’m purposely keeping my comments here short today because I’m publishing my Pierce tribute later in the afternoon.

Pierce will be immortalized in just a few hours, and his career was very nuance and unique. Today is a celebration of a guy who persevered and excelled in spite of many obstacles… some of which he put in front of himself.

He earned this moment, though. He did his own way, and he became a legend.

Congratulations, Paul.

The rest of the Paul Pierce links:

ESPN Boston: For Paul Pierce, it was Kevin Garnett who made the Truth whole

NBCS Boston: Boston runs through Paul Pierce’s blood

Herald: Paul Pierce set for number retirement

Globe: Paul Pierce gets emotional anticipating Celtics’ jersey retirement

BSJ: Video: Robert Parish calls Paul Pierce the greatest offensive Celtic player ever

ProJo: Paul Pierce tribute begins a day early

The rest of the links:

ESPN Boston: Why did we get the Kyrie Irving trade so wrong?

NBCS Boston: New-look Cavs come into Garden still getting to know each other | Report: Joe Johnson to sign with Rockets | Celtics’ pattern of playing catch-up can’t last