Celtics’ Pierce is this NBA season’s miracle man

Last year’s NBA miracle man was the San Antonio Spurs’ Sean Elliott. After a real-life display of true grit, helping the Spurs to achieve their first World Championship, Elliott received a gift of life from his brother so he could fight off a degenerative kidney disease. Sean then displayed uncommon courage in rehabilitating himself in Olympic record time to finish last season with his teammates and their unsuccessful attempt to defend their NBA crown. What a story that was. A story that San Antonio will never forget.

Season 2000’s NBA miracle comes in the person of Boston Celtic forward Paul Pierce, stabbed almost a dozen times September 25 at a Boston nightclub, and a little more than a month later playing, and playing pretty darned well, in the Celtic’s season opener November 1 at the FleetCenter.

Pierce was taken in the first round of the ’98 NBA draft by the Celtics following his junior year at Kansas where he was known as an offensive machine that could perform in the clutch. In his three college seasons Pierce averaged 16.4 points and 6.3 rebounds and was named First Team All-America by the associated Press after that junior year. Paul was lauded as the Most Valuable Player in the Big 12 Conference for both ’97 and ’98 as well as sharing Big Eight Co-freshman-of-the-Year honors with Colorado’s Chauncy Billups.

As an NBA rookie Pierce continued his scoring ways averaging 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds with the Celtics. Last season Paul notched his performance up a level to 19.5 points and was second in the NBA averaging 2.08 steals per game. In just in his second year Pierce was already taking more of a leadership role on the team.

You know he has to be good to have survived all of coach Rick Pitino’s house cleaning of the last few seasons. He is recognized around the league for his skills and may be the best midsize player the Celtics have seen since John Havlicek played in the Garden.

All was in high-speed cruise control for Pierce until the night of September 25. Paul was in town to attend a charity event sponsored by Celtic legend Red Auerbach and suddenly found himself in the right part of town at the wrong time.

“The Buzz” is a popular nightclub in the upscale theater district of Boston. Things like shootings and stabbings just don’t happen there. But Paul Pierce found himself in the middle of an unlikely nightmare the night of the 25th when he was stabbed almost a dozen times in the neck, face, chest and back. The wound in his chest was 7” deep and damaged a lung. Many of the wounds could have been fatal if they had been an inch to either side, but Pierce survived.

Several of his teammates rushed Pierce to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. One of the unidentified assailants at the time was rumored to have connections with a local Boston rap group. Three men were later arrested in connection with the stabbing and beating. Allen Iverson’s rap group was not questioned about the incident.

The prognosis for Pierce was promising immediately following the incident. The Celtics opened their training camp a week after the stabbing and soon after that Pierce was working out on the treadmill, shooting and taking part in light workouts. But it remained to be seen how Paul would respond emotionally to his ordeal.

“I grew up in Inglewood, California, and I’ve seen some of the worst things happen, even though they never happened to me,” Pierce said. “I’ve had close friends die. I’ve had family members die…I think a situation like this will be easy to put behind.” We hope so for his sake.

After turning 23 in October Paul finished the last few pre-season games with his team and made a triumphant return to the court in the Celtic’s season opener against Detroit. In that game he and high-flying teammate Antoine Walker meshed like old veterans to overpower the Pistons 103-83. Pierce started out slowly but by halftime he found his legs and had 20 of his 28 points for the game.

“My adrenaline was flowing. I could have played 48 minutes. I didn’t want the game to end,” he said. “It’s great to get the first one over with. A lot of things run through my mind. I’m happy to be here.”

We all are fortunate that Paul Pierce’s life didn’t come to a tragic end on that September eve. It was an unfortunate thing that happened to him but Pierce is not looking back. He doesn’t want to live that way and neither should we. The NBA will be better this year for his skills, athleticism and leadership. His is a story that Boston will never forget and Paul Pierce is destined to go down in the books as this NBA season’s miracle man.