Days after announcing that they will retire Paul Pierce's No. 34 jersey in the coming season, the Boston Celtics set the date for the ceremony. According to an announcement by the Celtics, the ceremony will be held Feb. 11 when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. The event will be witnessed by Cavaliers superstars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, if he’s still with the team. Earlier, Celtics co-team owner Steve Pagliuca said Pierce’s No. 34 jersey will be lifted to the rafters during the 2017-18 season. However, he did not mention a specific date.
According to Pagliuca, Pierce’s number deserves to join other Celtics greats such as Bill Russell, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, and Bob Cousy, as he embodied the Celtics’ leadership and the team’s brand during his era. “So it's going to be fantastic to see that happen,” said Pagliuca.
Pierce played 15 years with Celtics
Pierce signed a ceremonial one-day contract in July to retire as a member of the Celtics. He played 15 of his 19 NBA seasons with the Celtics. He also played for the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards for one season each and two years with the Los Angeles Clippers. Pierce called his decision to retire as a Celtic a “no-brainer," saying that the organization and city took him and made him one of their own.
“I couldn't imagine ending my career any other way. I'm a Celtic for life,” said Pierce.
The Celtics drafted Pierce 10th overall in the 1998 NBA Draft. After 10 years, he led the Celtics to a championship in 2008 together with Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen. Pierce was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after averaging almost 22 points per game in the six-game series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Pierce again carried the Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2010 but they fell to the Lakers in seven games.
Pierce made his mark with Celtics
In his career, Pierce was named an All-Star 10 times, to the All-NBA Second Team once in 2009, and to the All-NBA Third Team three times, in 2002, 2003, and 2008. In his 15-year tenure with the Celtics, Pierce became the second-leading scorer in franchise history with 24,021 points.
In his career, he tallied 26,397 points, averaging 19.7 points in 1,343 career games. He also played in 170 playoff games, averaging 18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. In his last season with the Clippers, he played just 25 games, averaging 3.2 points per game.
