Paul Pierce Didn't Like Having To Talk About LeBron James 'All The Time' At ESPN
BOSTON (CBS) -- Paul Pierce is the most beloved member of the modern-day Boston Celtics. A recent comment to Sports Illustrated should only endear him to the Boston fan base even more.
In a profile in SI, running during the week of his Hall of Fame induction, Pierce discussed his life and career with Chris Mannix. Early in the story, Pierce discussed his abrupt departure in April from ESPN, where he had been an analyst for several years after his retirement from basketball. Pierce's departure came after he posted a video on Instagram that showed him drinking and smoking in a room with exotic dancers.
The story, though, indicates that Pierce and ESPN were heading toward a breakup anyway, with the video just being the last straw.
Part of the reason Pierce didn't love working for ESPN? Having to talk about LeBron James all the time.
"I was done with them, anyway," Pierce said of ESPN. "It wasn't a great fit. There's a lot of stuff over there that you can't say. And you have to talk about LeBron all the time."
For Celtics fans who've long felt as though the nation's largest sports network spends an inordinate amount of time focused on LeBron, that quote is sure to resonate loudly.
Celtics fans will also be interested to know of one idea Pierce has cooked up in his head: A TV show with Kevin Garnett, one in which the two Hall of Famers do "all the s--- we couldn't do when we played."
Pierce added some ideas; "Skydiving. Maybe a bull run in Spain. Get motorcycles and travel around. Experience different cultures, different foods. That would be so much fun."
And it wouldn't be a story about Pierce's career if it didn't include some comments about the frayed relationship of the 2008 championship team with Ray Allen, who left Boston for Miami to help LeBron win a title with the Heat. Interestingly, Pierce said that Garnett has actually come around a little bit, but getting Rajon Rondo to have a change of heart may be the biggest hurdle now in holding a friendly reunion.
"KG, he's less stubborn as he gets older. [Rondo's] a problem," Pierce said. "Rondo, he's still stubborn."