Paul Pierce Emotional Boston Celtics Return Tribute

Former Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were honored with JumboTron video tributes in their first return to Boston since an offseason trade, when the Nets visited TD Garden on Sunday. Pierce, 36, was a 1998 lottery pick who spent the first 15 seasons of his career with the Celtics, making 10 All-Star Game appearances and earning four All-NBA selections. The small forward and longtime Celtics captain — nicknamed “The Truth” — ranks No. 3 in Celtics franchise history in games played, No. 2 in points, No. 7 in rebounds, No. 1 in steals and No. 4 in blocks.Garnett looked down at first, but eventually his eyes wandered to the video that showed his time in Boston from the press conference heralding the arrival of the New Big Three to his postgame yell after eliminating the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals: "Anything is possible!" He waved to the crowd, blew a kiss, thumped his chest and smiled at all of the fuss. Pierce seemed more emotional, looking up from the bench as his NBA life was replayed on the screen. From the time the Celtics took him 10th overall in the 1998 draft until last summer's trade, the player known as "The Truth" had spent his entire career in Boston. In addition to the on-court highlights, which included him receiving the '08 NBA Finals MVP trophy, Pierce's video had several scenes of him reading to children and working in the community as well as a clip of Jack Nicholson shouting, "You can't handle the truth."During the first TV timeout of the game, a video tribute to Garnett was shown on the TD Garden Jumbotron.But that was nothing compared to the reception Pierce (who had played his entire NBA career with the Celtics before this season) received during the break between the first and second quarters:Pierce averaged 21.8 points and 6.0 rebounds over 15 seasons with the Celtics, amassing 24,021 regular season points to become the second-leading scorer in franchise history. He was named the 2008 Finals MVP after helping the team end a 22-year championship drought against the Los Angeles Lakers. Friday night, Pierce tried to tell reporters what it might feel like to play in Boston for the first time as a visitor. "Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of emotions," he said. "You play your whole life there, you won a championship there, I mean, being the first time coming (back)...I never thought it would happen, but it is and it'll be here Sunday."