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NBA FINALS: LAKERS v CELTICS

June 4, 2008

Paul Pierce

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day

Q. A year ago at this time were you thinking, I'm never going to make it to the NBA Finals?
PAUL PIERCE: I don't think I was thinking, I'd never make it to the NBA Finals. I probably thought a year ago I'd never make it to the NBA Finals with the Celtics, just based on what we did a year ago, draft status, where I was at in my career, just a whole lot of things. It just didn't feel like I would be a Celtic next season. It was tough times, it was going through tough seasons, and I got to a point where I didn't know if I wanted to come back.
But boy, how quickly things change.

Q. How does it feel to be in The Finals just a year later?
PAUL PIERCE: I can't even describe the feeling just being here. I don't even know -- I probably don't even understand the magnitude of it right now. I'm just like a kid playing basketball, doing something I love, and enjoying the moment.

Q. I'm from Brazil, and we are covering also the Brazilian national soccer team playing against Venezuela. I heard you were a great soccer fan. Do you appreciate any soccer players, Brazilians?
PAUL PIERCE: I got into soccer because of Kevin.

Q. The name of your kid?
PAUL PIERCE: No, I got into soccer because of Kevin Garnett. Before I wasn't too much into soccer, but because of him, I followed it a little bit. We had a chance to meet some of the players when we went over in London -- or actually in Rome, and I had a chance to meet the Chelsea team over the summer.

Q. A Brazilian player, is there one you appreciate?
PAUL PIERCE: I really don't know. Names, I'm still learning. Come on, this is The Finals (laughter).

Q. What has this time off rest-wise done for you, the team, mentally and physically?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, this time off really helped my body rest, just mentally I think it's been a whirlwind. It's just like you're playing every other day, so you had a chance to sit down and look back and see some of the things you've done to get to this point. I think these last few days have given me -- just enjoyed the moment. This has been the longest four or five days ever. I think the guys have been ready to play since the end of the Detroit series, probably wanted to come back and play the next day.
Just trying to soak it all in now and enjoy the moment, but physically I'm feeling great and mentally I'm fine.

Q. Can you talk about the contrasting styles. You guys have done most of what you do defensively. This is a very high scoring team, higher scoring than any you've seen in the last three rounds. How does that change for you?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, it doesn't change what we try to do. Definitely our whole mindset is going to key in on being defensive-minded, keeping them out of transition. They're a great transition team. They get a lot of opportunities, shooting a high percentage. So it's our job just to try to do a better job defensively.
If you look at our three series, or the last two, we played against two of the best defenses in all of basketball. The way those two teams play really slows the game down, but I really think we've shown throughout the regular season, and in some cases throughout the Detroit series and the Atlanta series, that we still want to get up and down the court when we want to, score 100 points and get the ball moving and score. We feel we can pretty much play any style, whether we want to slow it down and grind it out or get out on the open court and run.

Q. Your three All-Star players, none of you guys have ever been to a Finals before. If you look at Kobe, he's won three, been to another one. What effect do you think that's going to have when you guys get out on the court, especially for Game 1?
PAUL PIERCE: Definitely his experience helps his ballclub, but we have guys on our team that's won championships, too. Just pretty much -- I think it's good to have those type of guys. You talk about the moments, you talk about the mentality you've got to have, but ultimately you've got to put it out on the court because you've got 10, 12 other guys on our team that haven't. Same with the Lakers, you've got 10, 12 other guys that haven't been to The Finals. It all equals out. The game has to be played out on the court.

Q. What have you been told so far? What's the best advice you've gotten about what the Finals are like?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, I've been doing a lot of talking about Sam and Posey; just a sense of urgency and enjoying the moment and all that. These opportunities don't come along. I got that from them guys. You talk about Sam won it over ten years ago, a guy who definitely appreciates the moment. So I'm going to appreciate this time, enjoy it, and understand, hey, this is it, this is the last series, so you have to leave it all on the court.

Q. A lot was made last year about the approach that you guys took, you and Kobe. You kind of didn't complain, you got your help. You got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. And Kobe of course demanded a trade and shook up the trees, and got some help. When you heard him make that trade demand last year, did part of you want to do the same, or where were you when you heard him make that trade demand?
PAUL PIERCE: I felt a lot of what he went through, just playing for an organization where you expect nothing but championship-type seasons. When you look at different organizations, football, basketball, baseball, you talk about the Lakers and Boston in basketball, you talk about the Yankees and Red Sox in baseball, you talk about teams that you look at as elite teams and you expect them to be elite pretty much every year. And it was just like going through a period with the Celtics where nobody talked about the Celtics for years and years, and it was just like -- usually great franchises don't rebuild, they usually reload, and I was part of a rebuilding process that I really didn't want to go too much longer going through. After three or four years I thought it was really time to either move on or do something about it. With the management, Danny, he was able to do something about it, get the players in, because at the time last year I thought my Celtic career was pretty much over.

Q. What about Pau Gasol in this Final?
PAUL PIERCE: Pau Gasol, he's been great. He fit into that team, into what they try to do. Like he was just a perfect fit, man, just like not even a transition. Usually when you trade guys mid-season there's a transition period you take to adjust to them, but it seems like he's been there the whole year, seems like he's playing fantastic ball, an All-Star player, a guy with tremendous offensive and defensive skills, and to go along with Lamar and Kobe, you've got one heck of a trio.

Q. How does it feel to be this close? And fair or not, does a great player need to win a championship to kind of have that validation for his career?
PAUL PIERCE: Well, when you look at -- I was talking about it today, all the retired members up on the banner, all of them except one has a ring. So I think so, man, in order to be great, in order to be a legend, you have to win a championship. Those are the things I'm inspired to do from day one, playing basketball, since I was a little kid when I made that commitment. I always said I want to be great.
I remember my brother always asking me, "Do you want to be good or do you want to be great?" And those are the questions you ask yourself when you go out and work hard each and every day and show up for practice, the sacrifices you made to get to this point.

Q. How does it feel to be this close with Ray and Kevin, the three of you together?
PAUL PIERCE: It feels great because the thing is we came together but we relate together, one another off the court. That's what makes this so much special, we can go out there and win.
We're excited to be here definitely, but we'll be even more overjoyed when we win it.

Q. Did you and Kobe hang out last summer when you played ball at UCLA? I know you were on different teams, but did you talk about the possibility that you might not be back with your respective teams?
PAUL PIERCE: It was kind of brought up at the time we was up there playing pickup ball. I remember us saying, neither one of us thought we'd be back with our team. I remember I was just betting who would get to another team first, because he felt strongly about moving on with the Lakers and I felt the same way with Boston, so it's kind of ironic that we're in this position on the same teams playing each other for a championship.

End of FastScripts

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