The Forgotten Wizard: Paul Pierce

Tyrone Montgomery | May 9, 2024

May 13, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) knocks down guard John / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

In these times and moments that the Washington Wizards are in, it is often good to go back down memory lane. Oftentimes in the NBA nowadays, there is a huge roster turnover each and every offseason. Contracts seem a lot shorter now and player movement seems to be encouraged more too these days.

In 2014, the Washington Wizards signed NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce. This was late in his career. However, Pierce was still an effective player as he averaged 12 points per game as a Wizard. He has always been a good shooter. While in Washington with the Wizards, he still shot close to 40% from beyond the arc. He shot 45% overall with the Wizards. That type of shooting was certainly a huge lift to the team.

Hoy hace 9 años; Paul Pierce metio este game winner para darle la victoria a los Washington Wizards contra los Atlanta Hawks (103-101) en el G3 de las Semifinales de Conferencia Este

Después de este tiro, Pierce dijo su frase de despedida: I called game!pic.twitter.com/zhapkN3oHt

— Jesús (@nba___drop) May 9, 2024

Despite being late in his career, Pierce was a player the Wizards leaned on and relied upon heavily. We see it in the clip above where he hit a game-winning shot against the Atlanta Hawks. Since he had already won an NBA Championship before joining the Washington Wizards, Pierce knew what it took to win on the highest level. That alone helped the Wizards during his short stint with them.

Paul Pierce was an NBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP, 10-time NBA All-Star, and is in the top 75 of best NBA Players of all time. He was a huge lift to the Wizards who was also able to mentor and help in the development of former Wizard guard Bradley Beal. Indeed, there were a lot of good moments as Pierce represented the District with the Wizards.