SLAM has been ranking the NBA's best players all summer. They're up to 17... which is where we find Paul Pierce.
Pierce remains one of the very few players who has stayed with the same team for the last ten plus years.
The total? Six. Yup, only six guys: Kobe, Tim Duncan, Dirk, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the timeless Jeff Foster. And Pierce.
That’s some serious stuff.
Now, it’s not that this longevity necessarily has some correlation to how good you are. I gave up statistics after high school. And Jeff Foster’s in the group. But it’s a fact definitely worth noting. It shows consistency, reliability, and an investment by the organization in the player and by the player in the organization. It’s no coincidence that two thirds of those players are some of the best of this generation.
The Diesel put it best back in 2001.
“Paul Pierce is the motherf*cking 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.”
By now, I think we all have a pretty good idea.
Yep. We do. And we'll have an even better idea after he wins a couple more rings.
Other Celtics on the list: Rajon Rondo at 27 and Ray Allen at 36. Last year, Paul Pierce was ranked 7th.