On the final play of Washington’s 114-107 home loss to the Warriors last night, Paul Pierce suffered through some teeth-gnashing knee-to-knee contact with a Dubs player. He had to be walked off the court by his teammates, and it was unclear if Washington’s grizzled vet would be OK. In Pierce’s typically bawse fashion, he assured reporters after the game he was fine.
Pierce explained his indestructibility, by way of the Washington Post:
Pierce needed help from Kevin Seraphin and Nene on his walk to the locker room but emphasized the knee is not a concern.
“It was just basically a knee to knee, just ice it,” Pierce said. “I think it will be alright.”
Pierce was walking around the Wizards locker room without a noticeable limp following the game.
“Can’t break steel,” he declared as he walked away from the throng of reporters.
We always like to picture every Pierce quip ending with him blowing a kiss to the MSG crowd while backpedaling to his own basket.
Pierce is tough, so he’s allowed to say stuff like that then drop the mic and walk away.
In case you forgot, what with all that wheelchair noise from the 2008 Finals, Pierce was stabbed 11 times on the back, neck and face — plus a bottle was smashed on his head — at the Buzz Club in Boston on the night of September 25, 2000. He needed surgery to undo damage to his lungs when all he was trying to do was break up a fight.
Despite the damage, and Bob Ryan opining on the risk Pierce was taking by coming back so soon after such a life-threatening incident, Pierce played on opening night. He dropped 28 points on the Pistons in a 20-point romp and was the only Celtic to appear in all 82 regular-season games that season.
Because of Pierce’s grit, we think Netflix should have cast him as the skin-like-teflon Luke Cage for its new Jessica Jones original series.
