"The Finals was the stage in which more people got a chance to see how extraordinary a player Paul Pierce is," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "Sometimes when teams don't win, people don't get a full appreciation. Players that do it day in and day out are not the rookies or the youngsters, but are in the prime of their basketball careers and are able to do it. Paul is one of those."
After years of Celtics struggle, Pierce asked for help and got it in Garnett and Ray Allen, and he yearned to prove himself on a grand NBA stage. The six-time All-Star couldn't steal the spotlight as a non-starter in the midseason classic. So he made the best of his time when the stakes were highest, during the playoffs, coming up big time after time when most needed.
He scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Celtics past Atlanta in a blowout Game 7 victory in the first round. The 6-foot-7-inch, 235-pounder outdueled James by scoring 41 points in a Game 7 victory over Cleveland in the second round. The Los Angeles native scored 27 points to lift Boston to a gritty, series-clinching victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Detroit. And while the Celtics whipped the Lakers in the Finals in six games, Pierce was the scoring star who screamed in satisfaction with the MVP trophy in his hands.
Immediately his already high-profile life went to a level reserved for only a select few.
"You couldn't go nowhere without people noticing you or all in your business and stuff like that," Pierce said at the team's Media Day. "You just have to know that it comes with the territory. You have to be a little more careful about what you do around people, probably a little more cautious than you were before."
