The Truth?: Paul Pierce Was Not Wheelchaired From 2008 Finals to Use the Bathroom

Paul Pierce exited Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals with an apparent right-leg injury. Over a decade later, he explained what really happened. Or so we thought.

Eleven years ago, Paul Pierce briefly exited Game 1 of the NBA Finals with what appeared to be a potentially serious right leg injury. Then later re-emerged to help the Celtics defeat the Lakers en route to capturing their first NBA title in over 20 years.

Over the years, there's been debate over the seriousness of Pierce's injury. While on the set of NBA Countdown ahead of Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals on Wednesday, the Celtics legend seemed to admit why he went down and needed to be helped off the court.

"I have a confession to make," Pierce said. "I just had to go the bathroom."

"But why did you need a wheelchair to get to the bathroom?" Chauncey Billups quipped.

"Ah, something went down and I had to go to the bathroom," Pierce replied.

Or so we thought. Pierce later tweeted a cryptic, emoji-only tweet before finally revealing that he didn't need to use the restroom after all.

Perhaps the truth is likely only known by the walls inside of the TD Garden locker room.