The One True Constant

People have always overlooked him. From the doubters as a teenager at Inglewood High School, to his skeptics during his time as a Kansas Jayhawk, even slipping to the 10th overall pick, Paul Pierce has always been underrated. His credentials and achievements prove other ways, but for some reason, when it comes to talking about the best in the game, Pierce is never mentioned in the same breath as someone like LeBron James.


To Pierce, none of that matters. He is second leading scorer in Celtics history, an NBA champion, an NBA Finals MVP, and a ten time All-Star, so the proof is in the pudding. But Pierce has been the captain, the rock, and the leader of this team. In this day in age with free agency and trades, it is very rare to see an athlete spend his or her entire career in one place. Pierce had a few opportunities to get out of town when times were rough. These instances coming after Celtics' horrific 2006-2007 campaign of 24 wins and 58 losses, and even last season when his name was mentioned in trade rumors as the team was sputtering under .500. But he chose to stick it out, demonstrating his loyalty to the franchise.

In this sense, Pierce is not like most athletes, as he recognized what this city has given him over the years and the passion that comes with playing in Boston. In addition to being loyal to Boston, he has always made it a point of emphasis to be among the best small forwards in the game, but at the start of this year -- as he has always done at the beginning of each season -- he made it clear that his main goal is to win a championship.

When asked who the leader of this team is, many choose the popular picks, ala Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett. Both are tremendous leaders in their own right, and both provide different styles of leadership, but when you talk about who the heart of this team is, it is without a doubt Paul Pierce.

This heart and leadership is always on display, but this was especially the case last night. After an embarrassing loss in Philadelphia the night before, Pierce made it a point to be aggressive on the second night of a back-to-back. And boy was he aggressive. Pierce scored 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting (6-of-8 on three-pointers), grabbed 5 rebounds, and blocked two shots in just about 27 minutes. Pierce even made a few hustle plays -- many Celtics fans would call them "Tommy Points" -- as he took a charge and saved a ball from going out-of-bounds each within the span of a minute. Pierce definitely set a positive tone last night, and with the regular season opener less than two weeks away, Pierce knows the importance of getting things going in the right direction.

"It’s at the point right now, halfway through the preseason, two weeks left before the first game, I was just trying to establish a rhythm -- how I’m going to play the rest of the year," said Pierce after the game. He went on to say, "It’s a combination of being aggressive, learning my teammates, learning a new offense also, and understanding where shots will come from. But you know when I’m aggressive like that, when I’m taking the lead, everyone else follows and I think it’s pretty contagious."

Nights like these might be few and far between for Pierce going forward, due to the fact that this team has so many weapons, but also because Pierce cannot be expected to handle a huge workload as he continues to get up there in age. However, going into his 15th season, Pierce is still the team's go-to man for scoring. As Rivers put it, "He's our scoring rock. He's been here so long he's kind of like Groundhog Day; you just assume he's coming back." Pierce is a 22 point per game scorer in the regular season, and a 21 point per game scorer in the playoffs. Even while he's had to sacrifice his game with the additions of Garnett and Ray Allen, Pierce was still "the man," as he's led the Celtics in scoring every season since 2000-2001.

The main concern this season is limiting Pierce's minutes. For someone who has been a constant on the floor -- besides his rookie, injury-plagued, and strike-shortened seasons of 1998-1999, 2006-2007, and 2011-2012 -- Pierce has never really been hobbled, with the exception being his knee sprain in last year's playoffs. This injury inhibited him from moving laterally and jumping explosively, and yet he continued to grind it out, averaging nearly 19 points per game and 6 rebounds per game. So far it appears that Pierce is healthy, but Doc and his staff should make it a priority to limit Garnett and Pierce's minutes to keep them fresh throughout the season and heading into the playoffs. These two are needed in the regular season, but more importantly the postseason.

Shaquille O'Neal said it best: "He's 'The Truth.'''