Paul Pierce gifted signed jerseys to Celtics
Paul Pierce will forever bleed green.
Playing in his 19th and final season, the Los Angeles Clippers veteran swingman has been reflecting on his career. He was drafted in 1998 by the Boston Celtics and played his best basketball over 15 seasons with them, even capturing a championship in 2008.
The 39-year-old hosted his former club last Monday when the Cs visited Staples Center.
It turns out his friend, Celtics equipment manager John Connor, left a pile of his old No. 34 jerseys at his locker when Boston faced the Los Angeles Lakers a few days prior. Pierce autographed them all for the current players and staff, according to the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach.
"Paul will do anything like that that you ask," Connor said. "He never looks at any of this stuff as work or his job, and I think that's why he's played almost 20 years. He was having fun doing what he was passionate about."
While Pierce isn't on a grand farewell tour a la Kobe Bryant, he did receive a proper sendoff last month where his career began. In his final regular-season affair at TD Garden on Feb. 5, the small forward drew a rare start and hit the final shot of the game as the crowd erupted.
Related - Last goodbye: Pierce calls Boston game his farewell to NBA