From Neil Swidey of The Boston Globe:
The 31-year-old laughs when I ask him if he expects the rest of us to address him as Mr. Pierce now. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that he was known as much for his hotheaded moments on the court and his clubbing ways off it as he was for play so dazzling it would earn him the NBA Finals MVP trophy. But through all those years, he never stopped playing hard, never faked injuries like other high-salaried star athletes in this town who need not be mentioned by name (Manny), and never gave up on his community involvement or his ferocious desire to win. For his pivotal role in bringing green glory back to New England and for his perseverance through a decade when that seemed like a hopeless cause, he is our Bostonian of the Year.
We’ve seen him grow up right before our eyes, and it hasn’t always been pretty. But in 2008, when the championship was only the capstone to a transformative year that made him a father and gave him new insight into the long-buried pain he felt as a son, we finally got to The Truth.
Sam Smith and Steve Kerr discuss Boston’s odds of reaching 70 wins:
“If anyone can do it, I think Boston is positioned well,” Kerr said. “Of all the teams in the last four or five years, they are by far built the best. They won a championship; they’re so good defensively and have multiple guys who can carry you every night.”
And the one element that few teams have, the guy who refuses to lose, who shows up every game and demands everyone does.
Frankly, it’s rare when even some of the best players don’t cruise in a few games during the season. You’d say Kobe Bryant is maybe the only one like that these days who does not. But it seems Bryant seems to understand his Lakers are so far ahead of the pack that this season is all about the playoffs. So he seems top have put it in neutral some.
It’s something Jordan didn’t do, especially that season in his first full season back from his first retirement.
“The difference to me,” Kerr said, “is Jordan. There were five, six, seven games that season we were dead in the water and he said, ‘Hop on and we’re going to win.’
“Garnett brings it every night,” said Kerr. “He has so much intensity and energy and you watch that team and the bench is always up and everyone is into it and Garnett always seems to be making sure.”
