Adam Figman of SLAM Online interviewed Paul Pierce who spoke a lot about his transition to a new team and city, and a little bit about the Celtics:
SLAM: I imagine the return to Boston will be pretty emotional.
PP: Oh it’s definitely gonna be emotional. You spend almost half of your life in Boston, so a lot of emotions are gonna run deep, because of friends and the things you accomplished there. The fans there, the season tickets owners—I know a lot of them. I’ll see all those people.
SLAM: Some members of the media have been saying they believe Doc Rivers quit on the Celtics. How do you feel about all that?
PP: Well, I know the insides with everything that’s going on. A lot of stuff got blown out of proportion because of the media, but Doc has always said he didn’t want to be a part of a rebuilding situation. I’ve always stated that the past four or five years. After the season, the owners decided they wanted to go in that direction. It made Doc look like he was quitting but at the same time it was mutual—everything was mutual at the end. The trade, Doc leaving. I didn’t want to be a part of rebuilding; Kevin didn’t want to be a part of rebuilding; Doc didn’t want to be part of rebuilding. I think it was all mutual. We’ve done so much for the franchise that they wanted to help on our end. So Doc went to L.A., and they sent us to Brooklyn for a chance to win a Championship. That’s pretty much the way it was. Nothing more, nothing less.
Pierce is obviously covering for his beloved coach who, once upon a time, emphatically stated that he was willing to rebuild. But everyone is entitled to change their mind, I guess.
Pierce and Garnett could never be part of the rebuild because teams don’t rebuild around guys 35 and 37 years old. Keeping one would have just delayed the process. Danny Ainge had to rip off the band-aid.
It sounds like the Truth is at peace with the decision.
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