"Pierce glad to be back on his court"- Herald

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

SPORTS COLUMNISTS
Truth of the matter: Pierce glad to be back on his court 

by Lenny Megliola 
Sunday, September 29, 2002

He's only 24 years old but you almost expect the network moguls to come 
calling. Young man, your life's already a made-for-tv movie.

Paul Pierce just laughs when you mention this, but he knows what you mean. 
``It's been a whirlwind,'' he admitted. Especially the last two years.

Pierce was well on the road to becoming a great, wealthy and famous 
basketball player, but all of it was nearly snuffed out when he suffered 
multiple stab wounds in a nightclub backroom melee one late September night 
in 2000. The Celtics were all too familiar with the young and promising 
dying. Len Bias. Reggie Lewis.

Pierce survived, somehow, and became a better player who peaked last season.

He led the Celtics not only to the playoffs for the first time in seven 
years, but to the Eastern Conference finals.

His fame grew. ``I just finished a commercial for Spalding with Jerry Rice,'' 
said Pierce. He was a go-to guy for the ill-fated U.S. team in the World 
Championships this month. Dubbed ``The Truth'' by Shaquille O'Neal after a 
42-point night against the Lakers two years ago, Pierce has a burning desire 
to give back to the community and does so through his Truth Fund, which 
benefits inner-city kids in Boston and his hometown, Inglewood, Calif.

He just finished testifying at the stabbing trial in Suffolk Superior Court. 
A nightmare. ``It was hard for me, bringing up all those memories, seeing the 
pictures,'' Pierce said. ``That was tough. It was just something I had to go 
through.''

He's alive. Bottom line. And he's got his game. Tomorrow he returns to 
another court, a court where he's a little more comfortable. No testimony. No 
reliving bad dreams. No court witnesses telling one story, then changing the 
story.

Summer of discontent

Tomorrow the Celtics start up another season at The Sports Authority Center 
in Waltham. ``I can't wait,'' Pierce said. ``It's a sense of relief.''

Ya think? Once, he could say he made it through the life-threatening night at 
the Buzz Club - Pierce keeps referring to it as ``my incident'' - now he just 
says, ``I made it through the summer.''

Not that it was a particularly kind summer.After the playoff loss to the 
Nets, Pierce only had a couple of weeks off before joining other NBA players 
for the World Championships in Indianapolis.`

`I just relaxed and let my body heal,'' Pierce said. ``I couldn't even walk 
after that series with the Nets.'' The World Championships were a disaster.

`The (European teams) caught us by surprise by how physical they were 
inside,'' Pierce said. The U.S. lost an unheard of three straight games. In 
the final defeat, against Spain, U.S. (and Milwaukee Bucks) coach George Karl 
kept Pierce on the bench, despite the fact he had started all nine games and 
was second on the team in minutes to Michael Finley. Pierce said he'd 
remember the snub when the Celtics meet up with the Bucks again.

He left the court in Indy and braced for the courtroom in Boston, where the 
trial is leaning toward the defense. Pierce has said his piece on the witness 
stand. Now he just wants basketball in his life. Needs basketball in his 
life.

Dishing out assists

Today he takes care of his Truth Fund with a charity softball game on the 
Esplanade. Pierce is asked which team he's coaching. Coaching? ``I'm 
playing,'' he said, feigning indignity. ``I'm hitting cleanup. I played 
baseball when I was young. I went out for my high school team my senior year. 
But I quit.'' Kansas, where he took his true game, wasn't looking for 
baseball players.

He is only 24 years old, but the notion of giving back to the community runs 
deeply. ``A lot of it comes from my mother,'' Pierce said. ``She's so 
hospitable, so giving. I feed off her. It's coming from my heart.''

And there is this. ``The incident changed my life in many ways. You've got to 
watch what you do, where you're going.'' 
He walks into a club now, into the streets, into a room and sizes up who's 
already there. Can't be too careful.

Something he knew has been underlined. The game is his sanctuary. Always was, 
only now it's a necessity.

Who's the boss?

Pierce was shooting hoops Friday at the C's practice facility when he saw a 
crew setting up for . . . what exactly? ``They told me it was a press 
conference for the new owners,'' Pierce said. ``I said, `What? That's crazy.' 
Man, that caught me by surprise.''

He went home and watched the press conference, and his new bosses, Wycliffe 
Grousbeck and Stephen Pagliuca, on TV. It was good that they were local guys, 
Pierce said. The ex-owner, Paul Gaston, had been a stranger to the Celtics 
star. ``I really didn't know much about him,'' Pierce said. ``We didn't have 
many conversations.''

The dawn of a new season, even after the hectic summer, refuels Pierce. The 
Celtics lost veteran point guard Kenny Anderson and didn't re-sign popular 
forward Rodney Rogers, bringing in Vin Baker and his baggage instead. ``I 
talked to Vin,'' Pierce said. ``He's very excited to be here. Sometimes 
change is good for you.''

More will be expected of Pierce after his breakout season. This doesn't 
trouble him. You kidding, after what he's been through? ``We definitely don't 
want to take a step backwards,'' Pierce said. ``I expect us to be in the 
Finals. Nothing less.''

It begins tomorrow, the next stage of Paul Pierce's promising, near tragic, 
ever evolving life. ``I can't wait,'' he repeated. Some need the game a 
little more.

Lenny Megliola is a columnist for the MetroWest Daily News.