Jalen Rose Calls Paul Pierce ‘Petty’ To His Face Over Jersey Retirement Controversy

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There’s been a lot of chatter on the world wide web about Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement. In short, The Truth is salty about the possibility of Isaiah Thomas receiving a tribute video upon his return to Boston on February 11th. Yes, on the surface is seems petty. I.T. broke his back for the team in the past three seasons, playing injured, playing through tragedy, and leading the C’s to their first Eastern Conference Finals since the ’11-’12 season.

But, lets take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture. For those who think Pierce is being a snowflake, I challenge you to play with superstars like Tom Gugliotta, Vitaly Potapenko, and Vin Baker’s ghost for a decade before you pass judgement. Pierce endured one of the most brutal stretches in the team’s history, and finally escaped Shawshank with the arrival of KG and Ray Allen. Those were the days when really good players stayed on really shitty teams. There’s honor in that. Hell, through his first nine seasons, his squads never eclipsed 50 wins. I wouldn’t wish that much pain on my worst enemy.

Pierce should not only be asking for an exclusive jersey retirement ceremony but for Boston to name the goddamn arena after him. And I’m an I.T. guy.

On NBA Countdown on Wednesday, Jalen Rose bluntly told Paul Pierce that he was being petty about the entire situation.

Pierce then jabbed back at Jalen by reminiscing about the time Kobe Bryant scored 81 points on him when he was a member of the Raptors back in 2006. It went over like a lead balloon.

Bottom line is that this is a shitty situation for everyone: Pierce, I.T., the Celtic organization, the city of Boston. No one wants to see two players who impacted the city in big ways turn on each other.

[h/t Total Pro Sports]

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.