Paul Pierce Trivia: 32 interesting facts about the basketball player!

Paul Pierce is an American former professional basketball player. Let’s see some amaizng facts and trivia about him!

1.His full name is Paul Anthony Pierce.

2. He was born October 13, 1977.

3. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

4. Pierce’s nickname, The Truth, was bestowed on him by Shaquille O’Neal after a 112-107 Lakers’ victory over the Celtics on March 13, 2001 in which Pierce scored 42 points on 13 of 19 shooting.

5. O’Neal pulled Boston Herald reporter Steve Bulpett over and gestured toward his notepad. “Take this down”, said O’Neal. “My name is Shaquille O’Neal and Paul Pierce is the motherfucking truth. Quote me on that and don’t take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is The Truth.”

6. Paul Pierce spent the first fifteen years of his career with the Boston Celtics, who drafted him with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft.

7. He became a bone fide star as captain of the Celtics, earning ten All-Star nods and becoming a four-time All-NBA team member. After nine seasons of leading the Celtics as their sole star player, Pierce combined with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in 2007 to form a “Big Three” that together led Boston to the NBA Finals in 2008 and 2010, winning the 2008 NBA Championship.

8. Paul Pierce was instrumental to the Celtics 2008 championship run, as he was awarded the Finals MVP after averaging 22 points per game. Pierce is one of only three players, alongside Larry Bird and John Havlicek, to score over 20,000 points in their career with the Celtics alone.

9. He holds the Celtics’ record for most three-point field goals made and also ranks third in team history in games played, second in points scored, seventh in total rebounds, fifth in total assists, and first in total steals.

10. He has also made the fourth most three-point field goals in NBA history, behind only Jason Terry, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen.

11. In July 2013, Pierce was included in a deal that sent him to the Brooklyn Nets, along with teammates Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry.

12. He signed with the Washington Wizards the following offseason, but after just one season with the Wizards, he moved back home to Los Angeles and reunited with his former Celtics coach Doc Rivers at the Clippers. He spent two seasons with the Clippers before retiring following the 2016–17 season.

13. Paul Pierce was born and raised in Oakland, California. His family later moved to Inglewood, California, where he attended Inglewood High School.

14. He was cut from Inglewood High’s varsity basketball team his freshman and sophomore years, and seriously thought about transferring before spending extra time in the gym and becoming the star of the team by the end of his junior year.

15. Pierce went on to participate in the 1995 McDonald’s All-American Game alongside future NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter, Stephon Marbury, and Antawn Jamison, and was a contestant in the game’s Slam Dunk Contest, which was won by Carter.

16. He grew up a Los Angeles Lakers fan and dreamed of playing with the Lakers.

17. On January 31, 2012, Pierce was honored as one of the 35 Greatest McDonald’s All-Americans.

18. Paul Pierce spent three years at Kansas between 1995 and 1998. He earned honorable mention All-Big Eight honors and was selected second team Freshman All-American by Basketball Weekly.

19. He was also honored as the Big Eight Co-Freshman of the Year with Colorado’s Chauncey Billups. During summer of 1996, Pierce earned a spot on the roster of the USA’s Under 22 team and helped USA go unbeaten in the World Championship-qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.

20. As a sophomore, Pierce captured the first of two Big 12 Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player awards after averaging 21.7 points and guiding Kansas to the inaugural tournament championship.

21. As a junior in 1997–98, Pierce won Most Valuable Player honors in both the Preseason NIT and the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

22. He scored 777 points as a junior—the fifth-most single-season point total in Jayhawks history.

23. He ranks as the fifth-leading scorer in Kansas history (1,786 points) and 11th on the all-time rebounds list (676)

24. Pierce left the University of Kansas following his junior season and entered the 1998 NBA draft.

25. For the year, he averaged 16.5 points and finished third in the voting for Rookie of the Year honors

26. His second season, he raised his scoring average to 19.5 points per game, and was turning into one of the elite offensive players in the NBA. By his third year in the league, Pierce was ready for a breakout year.

27. In the 2000–01 season, Pierce appeared in 82 games (all starts), averaging 25.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.68 steals in 38.0 minutes. He led the Celtics and finished eighth in the league in points per game, fourth in total points (2,071). He was named NBA Player of the Month for March 2001 after averaging 30.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.60 steals for the month

28. Paul Pierce ierce was a member of the United States national team for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, starting all nine games and averaging 19.8 points per game. Pierce was also selected for the United States national team for the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but did not compete because of minor off-season surgery.

29. On September 25, 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back and had a bottle smashed over his head while at the Buzz Club, a late night dance club in the Boston Theater District. He had to undergo lung surgery to repair the damage.

30. Nevertheless, Pierce was the only Celtic to start all 82 games in the 2000–01 season. Also, witnesses say that Pierce was attempting to separate the fighters when he was stabbed.

31. Tony Battie, Pierce’s teammate at the time, along with Battie’s brother, saved him by rushing him to a nearby hospital. In 2003, two and a half years after the attack, Pierce pledged $2.5 million to help expand the high-tech surgical center at Tufts-New England Medical Center that helped make his recovery possible. Pierce stated, “This is an opportunity for me to give back to the hospital that was there for me when I needed it.

32. Pierce and his wife, Julie (née Landrum), have two daughters, Prianna and Adrian, and one son, Prince.