Paul Pierce recently sat down with Greg Dickerson of CSNNE.com and touched on a number of things, including Doc Rivers returning to the team, the Miami Heat's new Big Three, and his own retirement a few years down the line. Hit the links for video of the interview.
"I really wanted him to hurry up and make the decision, because his future really depended on mine and Ray's and people don't understand that. I think a lot of other people's futures depended on what Doc did, and that's moving forward as an organization. If Doc doesn't come back, do we start the (rebuilding) process? I mean, (Ray Allen)'s a free agent, (Kendrick Perkins) went down, I'm on the last year of my deal, so there was a lot of things that could have happened if Doc walked away. That's why it was big for Doc to come back."
"You know it could come together right away for them, like it did when we brought our whole new team together, but it's all about the sacrifice, it's all about dropping the egos, and it's all about communication. It's going to be hard, you know why? I like to call this barbershop talk, because you go to a barbershop and all you talk about is basketball and sports and people are always saying, 'What if Kevin, Ray, and Paul had gotten together when they were younger? They'd probably have four or five championships. But then you don't take into (account) the fact that we were all in our primes, still trying to establish ourselves at the same time, which is what you're seeing with Miami now. All of these guys are in their prime. Now, how much of your prime are you going to sacrifice? LeBron right now is an MVP-caliber player. Wade is also, too. And also Chris Bosh. Now, can these guys say for the rest of their careers it's not about winning the MVP? It's about sacrificing the individual numbers for a greater good, and that's winning a championship. I think the great players make the adjustment. If it doesn't work out (the first year), I think as time goes, they'll figure it out."
On Pierce opting out of his contract:
"I never thought for half of a second (that I would be somewhere else). Truthfully. I couldn't even picture myself in another uniform. I never thought for a second, really. I opted out because I wanted to help the team, take less money per year, so we could restructure the team. I like the team, I wanted to bring everybody back, add some pieces, and that was my reason for opting out."
"I think this is going to be it for me. After these three or four years that I'm going to play, then I think that's going to be it for the game of basketball. I put so much into this game. As far as retiring from the NBA, I think I will be done after this contract because eventually I want to go overseas and play and live for a couple of years. That's why this is a big contract for me, knowing I'm going to retire a Boston Celtic. I want to go to either Italy or Greece for a year. I think I want to be able to bring my family over to just kind of share a different experience overseas for a couple of years, before I settle into retirement."