Mutha F***a Looked More Like Bernard King to Me : Pierce Channels Larry Bird In Historic Game Seven
The Child King Learns His History Lesson
It was a duel not seen in these parts since skinny ties and neon leg warmers. Lebron James, the man who proclaims himself king…of Cleveland, against the oft-maligned, oft-criticized Paul Pierce.
For ten years, Paul Pierce has been the NBA’s version of Rodney Dangerfield, NO RESPECT. But, today he showed today, in front of the whole basketball world, that he is one of the best in the game. It was a shot-for-shot homage to the great shootout of Larry and Dominique on the 20th anniversary (almost) of that classic game. And, you know what, the good guy won again.
This was a career portfolio game for Paul. To play the best player on the planet point for point in a game 7, when everyone knows he’s going to have a huge night…Shoot, that takes bigger balls than I’ll ever have. I am so proud of Paul Pierce. For a decade, we have lived and died with this man. Through his amazing rookie year, to the horrible stabbing incident, to emerging as a clutch player, to being labeled a malcontent, Pierce has had a topsy-turvy career. But he’s always been a great ball player.
But then there’s that moment you wait for as a fan. The one where a man lives up to, or exceeds the hype and the showmanship, and takes his place in your memory amongst the titans of the game. For ten years I’ve believed Pierce had this in him, hoping like hell that he would have one of these nights against a guy like Lebron James and he did it. To see Pierce win this one is like validation for those of us who didn’t get the world handed to them, for all of us who watch the prettier person or the more popular person get all the breaks. Tonight was about the tortoise, who paces himself against the hare and wins in the end because he could persevere and keep going forward. It was about about walking the walk instead of talking. In short, it was about Boston, and how we all feel deep down that the world loves New York and Los Angeles, but they forget about us, the hardworking men and women who stood up to an empire, to a king even, and told him to take your tea and go home. Lebron take your tea and go home man. This is Boston, we eat Kings for breakfast here.
Tonight, Paul Pierce a Bostonian tonight. The same way Larry did. And we were here to witness it. Tonight, Pierce was Larry and Lebron, he was more like Bernard King, than a real king.
“Tell you what. You can be Dominique and I’ll be Larry.
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May 19th, 2008 at 2:27 am
the crack staff is much wiser to these things than i. but that didn’t remind me at all of larry bird and dominique. i remember that game pretty vividly and being in awe as they one-upped each other. this, on the other hand, seemed like a more subdued battle. larry hit the big shots down the stretch, or at least it seems that way in my memory all these years later. pierce had a quiet 40+ if there is such a thing, and pj brown and garnett’s shots toward the end of the game were the difference-makers. but enough of that bullshit.
i’ve been wanting to ask you guys since halftime what the deal is with eddie house’s son. i’ve never seen a player’s kid on the court with him during a halftime interview. then, when house ran to the locker room the kid ran with him.
but none of this was as strange as the fact that the kid - who couldn’t be older than 4 - ran onto the court to greet his dad going into a timeout with like less than five minutes to go.
i can see this being tolerated for a star player, i guess. but why does eddie house’s kid get all access in the garden?
i apologize in advance if unbeknownst to me, eddie house’s kid has terminal cancer and is going to die tomorrow and this was his last wish. seriously. if that’s the case, sorry eddie.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:06 am
Bird V. Wilkins was more of a fourth quarter battle. This was pretty much the entire game with a couple of huge hoops in the fourth by, particularly James (Pierce made the bigger play though on the jump ball and hit several shots in the start of the fourth to keep the Celts in control) . I’d say this is comparable in that it was the closest we could ever get to that one. I would put this up with Wilkins/Bird though, really. It was that special. However, that game also featured Bird’s guarantee, which made it more heightened. I don’t think Pierce ever engaged James in any extra curricular stuff, which made it more interesting.
I don’t know about House’s kid except that maybe it was his birthday or something. Pierce and Garnett’s kids are babies though, so a comparison is moot.
May 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
House’s kid, James’ mother, special access all around. I thought it was awesome at half-time when they ran into the locker room, just looked cool. Didnt notice the timeout thing, but Im sure he was ushered to the side pretty quickly. I was more jealous than annoyed by the scenario. It was probably done by Doc Rivers to thank Eddie for being so cool while relegated to the bench for no apparent reason. I do not like Green Eggs and Ham and I do not like Sam I am (on the floor).
Definitely was a Bird vs Wilkins caliber game, but it was Pierce vs James, the Truth vs the King. Had me jumping, hollering and screaming. Don’t really see it as a subdued 4th for Pierce, he was doing whatever necessary to get the win, boards, defense, ft’s and assists. Might have been his finest game in a Celtic uniform.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
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May 19th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Bird had 20 of his 34 points in the fourth to 16 of 47 for Wilkins.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Gotta make sure Eddie House’s kid is benchside for every game!