“It’s a dream come true, just to be able to come home finally”, Pierce said.
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“So this was the next best choice, and it’s always been a dream for me to be able to play in front of my family and friends”.
Paul Pierce arrived Sunday night at the National Basteball Association Players Awards in a purple suit, black shades, and all smiles.
Fox Sports reported in May after the Clippers blew a three games to one lead in the Western Conference semifinals to the Houston Rockets, that Jordan was contemplating leaving free agency at the end of the season because of his issues with Paul.
Paul Pierce chose to return home this offseason and sign a 3-year $10 million deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.
With the Lakers having cap space this summer, plenty of rumors began swirling about the team targeting veterans after missing out on LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe.
Of course, the Clippers now are a much more desirable free-agent destination than their roommates at Staples Center. “We talk a lot more than people realize”, Paul said, per Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk.
But it appeared Pierce wasn’t going to get the championship chase he had expected, until joining in the Jordan re-recruitment brigade. “We brought in Lance, Wes Johnson, signed Austin [Rivers] back”. “I think that whole saga really took on a form and shape of its own”. Pierce, who played for the Washington Wizards last season, said he wasn’t privy to the events before his arrival in L.A., but is encouraged by the result of the sitdown.
It was no doubt a big summer for the Clippers and GM Doc Rivers, who made his job as coach a lot easier by adding real depth to the roster.
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“I wasn’t there previous year with that team, so I kind of sat in and voiced what I thought but I was on the outside looking in”, Pierce told the newspaper. “Hopefully it can be the start of something special”.
