Surprise, surprise.
Paul Pierce recently admitted that neither he nor Doc Rivers nor Kevin Garnett was prepared to endure a rebuild for the Boston Celtics. Shocking right?
Not exactly.
Speaking with SLAM Magazine’s Adam Figman, The Truth was very candid about what went down in Beantown:
Well, I know the insides with everything that’s going on. A lot of stuff got blown out of proportion because of the media, but Doc has always said he didn’t want to be a part of a rebuilding situation. I’ve always stated that the past four or five years. After the season, the owners decided they wanted to go in that direction. It made Doc look like he was quitting but at the same time it was mutual—everything was mutual at the end. The trade, Doc leaving. I didn’t want to be a part of rebuilding; Kevin didn’t want to be a part of rebuilding; Doc didn’t want to be part of rebuilding. I think it was all mutual. We’ve done so much for the franchise that they wanted to help on our end. So Doc went to L.A., and they sent us to Brooklyn for a chance to win a Championship. That’s pretty much the way it was. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nothing Pierce said isn’t something we haven’t inferred already. Obviously he and Garnett didn’t want to be a part of a lottery team, otherwise they wouldn’t be members of the Brooklyn Nets. And obviously Rivers felt the same way or else he wouldn’t be coaching the Los Angeles Clippers.
There’s a tendency to view these guys as victims of an era marked by transition, and to an extent, they are. Had Rajon Rondo remained healthy and the Celtics made a playoff run, maybe they stay together for another year. While were wishing for things, if they were all younger, this wouldn’t have happened either.
At the same time, however, it wasn’t like the Celtics threw Rivers, Garnett and Pierce out on their asses. This was a mutual split, or as amicable something like this could be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Tr1UX-01k
Almost two decades into their career, Garnett and Pierce didn’t want to have to deal with losing. And after growing accustomed to coaching a contender, Rivers didn’t want to cope with the same. It’s all relative.
Something else too—these guys needed to go for the Celtics to rebuild.
Boston wasn’t going to actually be starting from scratch if it held on to Garnett and Pierce. Old as they are, they’re still stars. For the Celtics to really embrace this reclamation project of theirs, they had to get rid of them.
A difference case could be made for Rivers. He didn’t have to go for the Celtics to rebuild, though they did get a first-round pick for him. His was a choice. Were he to have told the Celtics that he wanted to stay, there’s no doubt in my mind they would have allowed him to continue haunting the sidelines. But he, like Garnett and Pierce, didn’t want to stick around for what the Celtics had planned. He wanted to coach a winner.
So he’s in Los Angeles. And Pierce and Garnett in Brooklyn. Everyone got what they wanted, yet exactly what they didn’t. Pierce, Garnett and Rivers are in positions where they will contend for an NBA title, and the Celtics are free to tank the season away reshuffle the deck as they see fit.
“Nothing more, nothing less.”
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
