Paul Pierce told the Ghost of Life After Basketball 'no deal'

As an unrestricted free agent this summer, 36-year-old Paul Pierce made the decision to give the NBA at least two more years of his life, signing a two-year, $11-million deal with the Washington Wizards.

Apparently, the basketball spirits didn't check theScore's NBA offseason tracker, because they thought on Wednesday morning that Pierce may be willing to consider retirement. The 10-time NBA All-Star wasn't having it, however:

While it's really just a case of an older player admitting to having some trouble getting going during yet another long, surely gruelling offseason, it's certainly an interesting way to describe the feeling.

Pierce followed up 15 seasons as a Boston Celtic with one year as a Brooklyn Net and will now head to his third home, looking to shift to more of an elder statesman role on an up-and-coming team. An NBA champion in 2008, Pierce not only brings the Wizards 148 games of playoff experience (eighth among all active players), but a skillset that remained largely in tact, albeit in smaller doses, last season.

At age 36, Pierce averaged career lows of 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists but maintained a 37.3 per cent clip on threes, and above-average marks in player efficiency rating (16.8) and true shooting percentage (59.5 per cent). He'll probably see some time at the four for the Wizards, but the team will hope he's still spry enough in year 17 to guard some small forwards.