Q&A: Paul Pierce

Courtesy of SI

SI.com: Looking back, what was last season in Brooklyn like?

Pierce: "It was a roller coaster, definitely. A lot of emotion went into it. Going through what we went through last year, I had a lot of thoughts like, ‘Shoot, I could have just stayed in Boston.’ [The Celtics] were going through some of the same things we were going through in Brooklyn. The key was to stay positive. Times change, you have to move on, and that is what I eventually did."

SI.com: Was moving on from Boston more difficult than you thought it would be?

Pierce: "It was. I thought after a few weeks I would be all right. Then all those feelings resurfaced when I went back to play there, then they come back again when I went back to play again. It was tough to even play in that building. Every time you thought you put it behind you, it kept resurfacing. It was hard."

SI.com: You hadn’t been a true free agent in a long time before this summer. Was it strange?

Pierce: "I really didn’t know at first. I thought I would end up back in Brooklyn. Talking to Kevin [Garnett], we created a bond over the years and I said I would come back and finish it out with him. Things didn’t go the way we wanted, obviously. Brooklyn went in a different direction. I had to make a choice." 

SI.com: Doc Rivers said he tried really hard to get you to L.A. How close were you to being a Clipper?

Pierce: "I thought a lot about L.A. My wife wanted to stay there and put the kids in school. It would have been an easier transition for me being with Doc, being at home. I think I missed out on that opportunity by waiting to see what Brooklyn was going to do. When they eventually said they weren’t going to make any moves, I missed that boat. That kind of upset me."

SI.com: Think you will ever go back to Boston?

Pierce: "Definitely. Maybe as a player, maybe as a coach, maybe upstairs [in the front office]. I follow what they are doing. I went back to Boston twice this summer, went to their practice facility. I keep up with them."