Future hall of famer Paul Pierce might make a comeback in the BIG3 but, as of the end of the 2016-2017 NBA season, “The Truth” is officially retired. On the heels of that announcement, the Boston Celtics broke the news this week that Pierce’s jersey will be retired at the TD Garden on Feb. 11 when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town.
In addition to the pure magnetism of Pierce’s No. 34 jersey being lifted to the rafters in front of LeBron and company, the game is already doubling as the single hottest ticket in the NBA for the upcoming season.
.@TickPick ranked most expensive tickets for 2017-18 NBA games. CLE-BOS (and Pierce jersey retirement) is 1. Dirk's possible last game is 2. pic.twitter.com/eN6skCOgwC
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) August 21, 2017
Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype brings word from TickPick on the most expensive tickets in the league at this (very) early juncture and, as you can see, it isn’t a particularly close race right now. It will be interesting to see if the demand holds up for Pierce’s jersey retirement but, elsewhere in the league, there are some very noteworthy match-ups that the ticket-buying public is interested in at this juncture.
No. 2 on the list the final regular season home game for the Dallas Mavericks, which could easily double as the final game of Dirk Nowitzki’s career with the organization. Beyond that, a couple of Christmas Day match-ups (Cavs vs. Warriors and Celtics vs. Wizards) make the cut and, well, Golden State is prominently featured throughout the list for obvious reasons.
It seems somewhat inconceivable that a wide swath of the NBA fan base in Boston is already preparing to drop $1,500 on a ticket for Pierce’s jersey retirement but he is clearly beloved in the city and that is a story line to monitor in the coming days.
