While most other 30+ year old ball players on the Boston Celtics roster are either auditioning for the next season of Punked, lip syncing to Rick Ross videos, or becoming a human statue, team captain Paul Pierce has been maxing-and-relaxing in preparation for his 13th NBA season, all with the Celtics.
Pierce can again rest easy because after making it to the Finals in 2 of the last 3 seasons, management has brought in front-court help in an attempt at making a run at the franchise’s 18th World Championship. While some will argue that bringing in Shaquille O’Neal was a mistake, adding Jermaine O’Neal, Delonte West, and talented rookies Avery Bradley and Luke Harangody are obvious improvements from last year’s runner-up squad.
But getting back to the point, before the season begins, a lot of players like to visit their favorite tattoo artists to get some new ink for the upcoming season. Most players tend to go overboard like Denver’s Chris “Birdman” Andersen’s colorful “Free” tattoo or DeShawn Stevenson’s Abe Lincoln and Frankenstein tats last season.
But Paul’s new ink is a mixture of loud and obnoxious and yet respectful to the organization that gave him a shot back in 1998. Sure, tattooing your nickname on your forearm is a little arrogant but it’s the little finishing touches that make this ink cool. He pays respect to the Celtics with a 4 leaf clover in the lower left corner(even though the C’s emblem has 3 leaves) and the dice in the upper right hand corner, conveniently roled to a “34“ (Pierce’s jersey number) is a nice touch.
As for tattooing your current team on your forearm, let’s just hope he finishes his career in Boston, and as for the number of leaves on the clover faux pas, at least he spelled “The Truth” correctly!
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
