Paul Pierce & Antoine Walker Together Again

Two guys come to mind when you think of the Celtics from the late 1990s and early 2000s: Paul Pierce and Antoine

Walker. That is all there is to it.

We had to have them on the pod to discuss everything since they had both had successful rides alone and a crazy ride

together—two, in fact. Two guys come to mind when you think of the Celtics from the late 1990s and early 2000s:

Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. That is all there is to it.

We had to have them on the pod to discuss everything since they had both had successful rides alone and a crazy ride

together—two, in fact.

Go back to 1998. At that point, Pierce left Kansas to join former Kentucky Wildcat Walker on the Celtics.

Over the following five years, they developed into one of the best young teams in the NBA.

It was simply a little tough to begin with.

This is due to the fact that Pierce’s first year was actually the lockout year.

Yes, the season that began in February and consisted of fifty games played in three months.

As a result, Pierce essentially missed out on training camp before he started to averaging 16.5 points per game.

With him, Walker ended up averaging 18.7 points per game.

I questioned them about how, as teammates, they managed to work things out during that crazy season.

Walker knew the ideal response. No, we didn’t,” he chuckled. Alright, it makes sense.

Walker was quite direct. The C’s concluded the season in 12th place in the East after winning just 19 of their 50 games. However, the comeback had already begun.

Walker and Pierce led the Celtics to the Conference Finals in 2002,

just a few years later, but they were defeated 4-1 by the New Jersey Nets. And then everything changed later that

year. After Wyc Grousbeck and his associates acquired the Celtics in September 2002,

they appointed Danny Ainge as the team’s basketball operations manager. He chose to end their relationship.

Pierce admitted on the pod that he genuinely believed he ought to.

I assumed I would be the next. “I assumed I would be the next one,” he laughed.

“I believed that with new ownership and a new general manager, everyone wants to leave their imprint and make

their own contributions, rather than depending on the previous leadership to step in and take over. I simply assumed

that I was next.

When the transaction fell through, he wasn’t really pleased either.

Pierce remarked, “This is my thing: We had two All-Stars.” “Getting two All-Stars,

perennial All-Stars is difficult for clubs to do. We ought to have expanded upon that,

in my opinion. Even though they didn’t, they all went on to win titles, separated by just two years.

That lessens the blow, sort of? Walker, a backup for the Miami Heat, ultimately took home the 2006 championship.

Following the Celtics’ acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett (more on that later), Pierce went on to win the

2008 championship with them.

What makes those two titles the best? Despite everything, these two guys managed to enjoy each other. Pierce

recalled taking a plane to Chicago following Walker’s ascent of the mountain.

“I flew to Chicago when they won, didn’t even check into my hotel, met him at the restaurant and congratulated him,

and we had dinner,” Pierce recalled.

It was more than dinner, too. “We spent the entire weekend partying.” Conveniently, Pierce omitted the remaining details.

Even though KG wasn’t there in this episode, Garnett is the subject of the final significant segment.

Walker explained that, in fact, he had some influence over Garnett’s approval of his 2007 trade to Boston.

Walker had nothing but affection for the Boston Celtics and the chance to play for them, even after being traded from

the team twice. When he encountered Garnett at a wedding in the summer of 2007, he told her about his feelings.

“I basically told KG those tales and assured him that the environment he will play in will be unmatched by anything

he experienced in Minnesota,” Walker remarked. “You’re entering basketball country now, not to offend

Minnesotans in any way. You’re going to face true supporters who value all that KG brings to the game, including his

enthusiasm and screaming, blocking shots, and tumbling to the floor. They will respond in kind. That’s how—I don’t

think I convinced him, but I tried—and I’ll never forget it.”

From this point on, the rest is history. In order for him and Pierce to work with Ray Allen to win the 2008 title the

following season, KG had to agree the trade to Boston. Walker and Pierce were both able to retire with

championships thanks to that victory.

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