Game One Leadership

 

 

            Paul Pierce is the captain of the Boston Celtics.  He is their leader, and their jumpstart to success.  We saw his game seven heroics against the Cavaliers where he scored 41 points leading them to victory.  Pierce is the only player on the Celtics roster left from when Danny Ainge took over as Celtics General Manager.  He is what drives this team and it was as evident as ever in game one of this year’s NBA Finals.

             Pierce went down in the third quarter of Thursday’s game one with a knee injury.  The fans of Boston hushed as trainers huddled around Pierce.  Pierce had to be carried off the court and put into a wheel chair to get to the locker room.  When watching the game, I didn’t like the Celtics’ chances in this game any more.  I knew that they still had Kevin Garnett, but it seemed this was the opening that the Lakers needed to take over the game.  The energy of the crowd was way down compared to before the injury.  I was starting to give up on the Celtics and beginning to think about game two when Pierce suddenly made a grand entrance out of the locker room and back onto the Celtics’ sideline.  The crowd started cheering as Pierce bounced over to the scorer’s table while receiving hi-fives and from his teammates.  Pierce entered the game and nailed two momentum-swinging three-pointers. 

            A fair share of NBA analysts and the Lakers organization have called Pierce’s injury a fake and that he did it just to get attention.  They also questioned how he returned to the court so fast.  All of this skepticism is complete garbage.  Pierce has been with the Celtics through the roughest times of the organization.  He has hung tight and has finally gotten to the NBA Finals.  Pierce returned to the floor so quickly because he wanted to get back out there.  This is the biggest thing in his career so far.  The injury obviously wasn’t as bad as it looked, so everyone needs to give the guy a break for returning so quickly.  Pierce is the captain and a fierce competitor.  He doesn’t want to miss any part of the NBA Finals, especially considering who the Celtics are playing.  Pierce grew up watching the Celtics play the Lakers and said how honored he was to take part in such a legendary rivalry.  Pierce is not the kind of player that would milk an injury like that.  The status of Pierce for tonight’s game two is that he is “likely to play,” so the injury obviously had some significance. 

            The other point here is that the Lakers should not have called out Pierce in this whole situation.  Head Coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, was the one who questioned Pierce and his injury.  Who is he to call out the captain of the Celtics?  Before his comment I had a lot of respect for Jackson, but now I have definitely lost respect for him.  Knowing Pierce, he will be out on the floor tonight leading the Celtics in, what should be, an exciting game two of the NBA Finals.