SUMMARY
- Despite all of Paul Pierce's accomplishments during his 19-year-long career, there are a noteworthy amount of NBA fans that hate him.
- Paul Pierce admitted that he was faking his infamous knee injury at 'wheelchair game,' making fans believe that their speculations stand right.
Paul Pierce made a name for himself in the basketball world. He played in the NBA for 19 seasons and had one of the most successful careers. Pierce established himself as a master of the three-point shot and built an impressive resume with numerous titles and awards. Despite all of his accomplishments, there are a noteworthy amount of NBA fans that hate Pierce and the others must be wondering the reason behind the hatred.
Before exploring the reasons why Piece is one of the most hated players in the history of the league, let’s take a quick look at his impressive basketball journey. He was born in Oakland, California, and attended Inglewood High School. During his high school career, as a freshman, Pierce was cut from the basketball team only to eventually rise to fame as a junior and become a McDonald’s All-American.
After playing basketball at Kansas University for three seasons and honing his skills, Pierce declared for the NBA draft. He was drafted into the league in 1998 by the Boston Celtics, this caused awkwardness with his friends as they as well as Pierce grew up being a Lakers fan and hating their rival to the core. Regardless of this, he quickly became a key player in the franchise and changed its landscape.
Paul Pierce faked his infamous knee injury at ‘wheelchair game’
The NBA fans who hate Paul Pierce argue that throughout his career he suffered from supposedly major injuries just so that he could make a great comeback in the same game. They strongly believe that he used to behave dramatically to get attention by exaggerating even minor injuries. One of the prime examples of this was the infamous ‘wheelchair game.’
For the longest time, fans speculated that he faked the injury and just had to poop. He was back on the court in no time and scored 15 more points. This happened during Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, and 11 years later before Game 3 of the NBA Final of 2019, he admitted that he was faking it. “I have a confession to make. I just had to go to the bathroom,” Pierce said while looking everyone dead in the eye.
Paul Pierce admits he had to go to the bathroom during the wheelchair game pic.twitter.com/w282Yb1e8n
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) March 17, 2023
While it did seem that he was just saying this out of frustration as in his other appearance, Pierce has spoken about how the knee pain was extreme. He stated that he had a high pain tolerance, but at that time, he could not tolerate it. His changing narrative of the ‘wheelchair game,’ has further strengthened Pierce’s reputation of faking injuries and wanting attention.
Paul Pierce spat at the Cavs bench during the 2004 preseason game
Apart from his image of faking injuries, Paul Pierce received a substantial amount of hatred from NBA fans for his trash talks during his career and his hot takes as (now former) ESPN basketball analyst. The infamous feud between LeBron James and the Celtics’ star started at the 2004 preseason game as per Kendrick Perkins.
He revealed that Pierce was jealous of the hype that then-sophomore James received and decided to spit at the Cavs bench. Perkins called this “ultimate disrespect,” something anyone would agree with. Further, Pierce was fined $15,000 by the league for his actions. Apart from this, Pierce’s comments after being asked if Kobe Bryant is the best player, not naming James in the top 5 GOAT players, his career being better than Dwayne Wade, etc have attracted hatred.
It is also noteworthy that even Pierce’s story about how he was stabbed 11 times just days before playing 82 games in 2000 has been deemed as fake and exaggerated by fans. They argue that a lot of details of the incident don’t match up and appearing in games just three days after being released from the hospital doesn’t add up well. Despite all the hate that Pierce continues to receive, it is undeniable that his impact has been significant.