The 2008 Boston Celtics are one of the more beloved teams in recent memory, at least in some corners of the NBA world. While not every member (cough, Ray Allen, cough) was reunited on Monday night as part of Kevin Garnett’s Area 21 program on TNT, a five-man panel featuring Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis took to the airwaves prior to tip-off between the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz.
As you might expect, shenanigans ensued and Garnett’s introduction of his former teammates was worth the wait.
KG welcomes @KendrickPerkins, @iambigbaby11, @RajonRondo & @paulpierce34 to #KGArea21! pic.twitter.com/gz8eLX4JjB
— KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) May 9, 2017
The headliner, however, was a discussion surrounding the retirement of Pierce and the guys looking back on his contributions to the Celtics and the league in general.
.@paulpierce34 discusses his final season in the @NBA with @KendrickPerkins, @iambigbaby11, @RajonRondo & KG. #KGArea21 pic.twitter.com/ldHWS9GLsQ
— KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) May 9, 2017
As part of that conversation, Pierce indicated, when pressed by Garnett, that he would like to sign a deal to finish his career in a Celtics uniform, even metaphorically. “That’s what I want to do, actually,” Pierce said. “I want to just end my career saying I ended as a Boston Celtic. Everybody’s always going to remember me as a Celtic, just like all of you guys here. We’re going to always be remembered as a Celtic. When you do something special, win a championship, you’re going to always be linked to that. So I want to do a one-day deal to where I sign with the Celtics.”
Fittingly, the crew was later joined by Doc Rivers who, of course, was their former coach in Boston and the final coach for Pierce in his NBA career.
Doc Rivers surprises Kevin Garnett, @KendrickPerkins, @iambigbaby11, @RajonRondo & @paulpierce34 in #KGArea21! pic.twitter.com/nOsdMHOqBH
— KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) May 9, 2017
Doc Rivers, KG, Perk, Big Baby, Rondo & Paul Pierce share memories from their first training camp together in Rome. #KGArea21 pic.twitter.com/gVt9ne6aCJ
— KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) May 9, 2017
There were more fun moments throughout the brief broadcast, ranging from inside jokes that the players seemingly recoiled from to Perkins calling Pierce “chubby” and the future Hall of Fame wing shedding light on day-to-day preparation as the toughest part about aging in the NBA. Taking in the full clip would be highly recommended but we now know that Paul Pierce was already thinking about signing a one-day deal in Boston and it looks like that just might happen.
