Robert Parish thinks it's awkward for Paul Pierce to be playing for the Nets

As a basketball fan it just won't seem right watch Paul Pierce in a Brooklyn Nets uniform. Just like it was strange watching Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone in a Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers uniform. It just doesn't seem right after watch him play for the Boston Celtics for so many years.

Longtime Celtic great Robert Parish knows a little about being in a different uniform. Parish spent his final years as a member of the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls.

In an interview with Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, Parish said that Paul Pierce being on the Nets 'will be awkward' and he also compared Pierce's situation to his last few years in the NBA.

“Just accept the fact that it is going to be awkward initially. That’s all. Because he has worn the Celtics green for so long and it is going to be really awkward for him. But it was time for a change and what I do like about what the Celtics did for Pierce and Garnett, they didn’t send them somewhere to another situation that is not going to be successful. They sent them someplace where they are going to win. Garnett and Pierce have earned that right.” 

Parish spoke about his time in Charlotte and how he felt about it.

“Un-com-fortable,” Parish said (of wearing the Charlotte uniform). “In my mind, I would always be a Celtic. I was very thankful and humbled that the Hornets saw fit to allow me to play a couple more years, but the only time I thought of myself as a Charlotte Hornet was game time. Other than that, when the jersey came off, I still felt like I was a Celtic.”


When Pierce eventually goes into the basketball hall of fame he'll more than likely go in as a Celtic. But as long as the Russian billionaire is cutting the check in Brooklyn I'm pretty sure Pierce won't be feeling too awkward.

Only when he comes back to Boston.

Paul Pierce says Celtics lack mental toughness

The Boston Celtics are clearly a team in transition. Once a team dominated by the Big Three (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett), the Celtics are now a mix of veterans and youngsters with point guard Rajon Rondo being the bridge. The result so far hasn't been pretty. The Celtics currently stand at 20-21 with losses to the lowly Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers the last two games. Not the kind of results Celtic fans have been accustomed to the past five years.

Pierce, who has seen both the good and the bad, has spoken out about the team's current four game skid. Pierce told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that the Celtics are lacking the mental toughness of teams past.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of your teammates.


“I think we got pieces here,” the Celtics captain said before Tuesday night’s 95-90 loss to the Cavaliers. “We just got to come together. We got to figure this thing out. Can’t get discouraged.

“I think that’s the one thing this team lacks, that mental toughness, man. When we lose our confidence, I’ve never been on teams like that. We got to stay together, we got to play with confidence.

“Yeah, definitely, it hurts me to say that. It’s like I really sometimes don’t believe it.

“We get down on ourselves. We got to go out there and believe we can win every game. It’s tough sometimes.”

Now Pierce has been on some bad Celtic teams prior to the arrival of Allen (now with the Miami Heat) and Garnett, and this one isn't quite as bad, but it's probably wearing thin on Pierce's patience for the young pups to grow up.

There's still another half of basketball to play and it'll be interesting to see if GM Danny Ainge will make a deal to keep the team competitive, let things play out, or blow it up altogehter.

Pierce Gets No Love In His Hometown

Why is that a hometown hero can't get any cheers when they come home for an All-Star game. Paul Pierce was the latest to experience the hometown hate. Pierce plays for the Boston Celtics, and with the All-Star festivities being held in Los Angeles that should tell you all you need to know. Hey, Kobe Bryant experienced this when the game was held in Philadelphia. At least you expect it there.

Part of it comes from the fact that the player is usually killing the hometown every time they go there. At least Pierce understands why they boo him and embraces the hate.

“When you play for L.A.’s biggest rival, it’s tough getting booed by the fans. But I’m sure if Kobe Bryant was from Boston, he’d get booed, too, if he went back there. It’s something you get thrown into once you become a Celtic or a Laker. It’s automatic, regardless of how you used to feel about the Lakers or Boston. Once you put on one of the uniforms from either side, you automatically inherit the rivalry,” It’s something you get thrown into once you become a Celtic or a Laker", Pierce said.


Dwayne Wade hears it when he goes home to Chicago. I don't think Rasheed Wallace ever heard it when he went back to Philadelphia. I guess the dislike only goes for select players.