Larry Bird defined the Boston Celtics in the 80's, but in the 2000's, it has been Paul Pierce that has been the face of the franchise. Despite both of them leading the Celtics, Pierce's accomplishments have been much overshadowed by what the great Larry Bird was able to do in his career.
But with Paul Pierce hitting a three at the 10:23 mark of the third quarter Pierce forever etched his name ahead of Larry Bird on the Celtics all-time scoring list with a milestone that he, nor any of us fans, will not soon forget.
However, it would be premature at best to proclaim Pierce as superior to Bird just because he is now ahead of him in scoring. This is an unbelievable accomplishment for Paul Pierce. But let's not forget why it is such a great accomplishment; because Bird is one of the all-time greatest players in NBA history, passing him in scoring is about as impressive as it gets.
For Pierce, it took 14 seasons and 987 games to reach this milestone while Bird reached the same amount of points in one less season and exactly 100 less games. On top of that, The Hick From French Lick is also ahead of Pierce in every other major statistical category.
Most importantly, though, Larry Legend helped the Celtics raise three banners up to the rafters while Pierce, thus far in his career, has only won one ring.
But this event while it may seem like an invitation to compare Bird and Pierce, it isn't. To do what I was just guilty of and compare the two just diminishes what Pierce just accomplished. Rather, what Celtics fans should be doing with this milestone of a moment is think about how lucky we really are.
Living in Boston, we are accustomed to winning and great players, but Bird and Pierce are still rare cases. Many fans get to see one elite player on their team in their whole life and even in that case, very rare is it that people get to see an elite player that stays on the same team for their whole career.
So in this sense, we Celtics fans are incredibly lucky that we have been able to see two elite players (for the older fans out there that saw Havlicek play or even Russell for their entire career, obviously they have been able to see four legends play) and tonight is just another reminder of that.
We saw Bird grow up in Boston and witnessed him score all 21,791 points. Pierce too we have witnessed grow up in Boston and through the good times and the bad, we have seen him score 21,792 points.
And although Pierce is now ahead of Bird on the all-time scoring list, their two numbers will soon be right next to each other up in the rafters.
Congratulations Paul, you earned it and it has been a pleasure to watch you score all 21,792 points.
Lance Berkman Reegie Corona Juan Miranda Colin Curtis Kevin Russo Curtis Granderson
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