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CHRIS MANNIX: Things change, obviously,
when KG and Ray are acquired.
Rondo's obviously there.
I mean, what was that like for you when it happened?
Did you have to convince KG to come there?
PAUL PIERCE: KG's stubborn.
He didn't want to get traded.
He never wanted to leave Minnesota.
I talked to him on the court, like, man,
you going to come to Boston, and I'm going to come to Minnesota.
Also, what helped him was us trading for Ray first.
So once he saw Ray and me over there,
I think the decision was easy for him to accept to trade,
because he knew he was going to finally have an opportunity
to win a championship-- because it
was going to be tough out there in the West with San
Antonio, Lakers and Kobe Bryant, Dallas,
and there's so many great teams, and Minnesota was kind of
stuck in the middle.
CHRIS MANNIX: That team is like-- it spoiled
things for every team that's put together
with stars, because everyone expects a star-driven team,
whether it's the Lakers with Dwight Howard, and Steve
Nash, and those guys, or even the Heat, when
they put LeBron and Wade together, to be like you guys.
You guys started off, what?
22 and 3 or some insane number like that.
I mean, what was it about that group of players
that made you start out so strong
and obviously sustain it all the way to a title.
PAUL PIERCE: I think it was just-- I like
to call it the perfect storm.
It was just like-- you know, usually
when you get a group of new players,
it takes a while to develop chemistry.
But I think the way our games was, everybody complemented
each other very well.
I mean, the pieces just fit like a puzzle.
We got there in September, and we were playing pick-up.
And so, you know, all the guys are there.
And so we don't pick the teams.
It was like, all right, Paul, pick the teams.
And I was just like, all right.
We don't start out-- usually in pick-up games,
you going to even out the teams.
And I was all right.
We're going to do this.
We're going to go me, KG, Ray.
Everybody was looking at me like, hold on.
We're supposed to even out the teams.
I was saying, man, listen.
This is going to be the lineup.
We're trying to get this thing right.
CHRIS MANNIX: Who's on the other side?
Like, James Posey?
The decline of those Celtics teams' injuries,
you can trace it to, obviously, with KG in '08, [INAUDIBLE]
'09.
But the Ray-Rondo rift.
Is there anything you wish you could have done more
in that situation, or was it just beyond your control there?
PAUL PIERCE: I mean, I think it was more overblown than were
people had I said, because if you look on the court,
they had great chemistry.
I mean, it was like you would have never have
thought if you watched the court,
because it seemed like every play was for Ray.
I think every team has their players that have rifts.
I mean, that wasn't the only rift on our team.
You could say Ray-Rondo, you could say Rondo-me,
you could say Rondo-KG.
CHRIS MANNIX: You must have thought, like, all right.
We're all kind of in our prime here.
Rondo is not even in his prime yet.
We're going to run off a few.
I mean, was that the mindset for you going into '08-'09?
PAUL PIERCE: I did think we could
win two or three championships, especially
after we won the first one.
I was like, OK.
We got the blueprint.
But then everybody always says, you got to be good and lucky.
And I think in those other years, we got on lucky.
We had a chance the next year.
Kevin got hurt.
That really spoiled our plans.
But then the next year, we go to game seven with the Lakers.
It can go either way in the fourth quarter.
So we had our opportunity.
It was there for us.
CHRIS MANNIX: Is that the game that haunts you, or is there
another game that you kind of--
PAUL PIERCE: I think the one game that haunts me the most
is game seven, 2010.
I mean, we had lead--
CHRIS MANNIX: 13 points in the fourth quarter.
PAUL PIERCE: We were up double digits,
and we got one of the stingiest defenses in the league.
That game, I still haven't watched.
And the only time I've seen it, I was changing channels
through classic sports, NBA TV, and I changed it right away.
CHRIS MANNIX: You can find my full interview
with Paul on iTunes, TuneIn, and Stitcher
at "The Vertical Podcast with Chris Mannix."
And subscribe for a new podcast every Tuesday.