On Sirius XM NBA channel this morning, Clippers forward Paul Pierce, who spent 15 years with the Boston Celtics, announced he will sign a one-day contract with Boston at the end of the season. Pierce already announced on September 26th, via Players Tribune, that he will retire at the end of the 16-17 season and he wants to do that as a Celtic, the team he spent fifteen years of his career with.

“I think I’ll always be remembered as a Celtic. I had all my glory days; all my prime was pretty much as a Boston Celtic. I think I owe the fans and I owe myself that much, just to be able to put that uniform on one more time and go out that way, say I retired a Boston Celtic,” Pierce said to Sirius XM NBA about wanting to retire a Celtic. 

Pierce is entering his 19th and final season in the NBA; he’s got a Hall of Fame resume. This includes 10 All-Star appearances, all with the Celtics, an NBA Championship in 2008, and on top of that he’s nicknamed “The Truth,” thanks to NBA HOF Shaquille O’Neal.

Celtics GM Danny Ainge made the tough decision during draft night 2013 to trade the Celtics legend along with fellow star Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets for an abundance of unprotected 1st round picks. Although there was backlash in that deal, Ainge assured Boston fans that Paul Pierce will always have a place with the team.

 

When Ainge spoke at Celtics Media Day in September, he had such skepticism about Pierce actually retiring. But like he’s always had, he spoke highly of Pierce.

“Paul loves the game,” Ainge said. “He loves basketball, and I think that it’s hard to see him walking away. I know there will come a time when he will, but he’s one of the greatest Celtics of all time. He’s a great competitor. “The thing that stands out more than anything about Paul, after all of the great shots and great plays and everything else that he did here — was just watching him, sitting right outside my office, seeing him come in at midnight and work on his game and work on his conditioning. He really loved the game and took it very seriously,” Ainge said during Celtics Media Day in late September.

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