Hmmn...kg was one of the most popular players in nba history, spent over a decade building a fan base on one of the worst franchises...there was as many kg fans as wolves fans...he had a large following from casual fans and a die-hard kg cult like following...when he was traded those people became Celtics fans. No one has become a Celtics fan because of pierce...more than likely they were already a Celtics fan and became a pierce fan as well growing up with him on their team....I find it a bit strange you became a Celtics fan because of pierce...but wouldn't find it weird in the event he was traded you decided to root for that team too....but it's enlightening to know you're so in love with pierce and saw his immature underachieving career pre kg and are as critical of rondo as you are....
So we're describing KG too? The guy who used to fight his own teammates in practice in Minny? I swear Kevin Garnett is so overrated now. He's an awesome player and such, but he was just as underachieving a player as Pierce was before they played together. He has several faults himself.
Pierce is an incredibly undervalued player in this city, and it still bothers me that anyone would blame him for the Celtics' lack of success early in his career. There is not one player in this league who could have succeeded on this team with the way it was being run before Ainge. It took Ainge three years of dismantling and stocking young talent to become a viable trading partner. The team was full of junk and albatross salary. Pierce played half his career without a good point guard and a player who could grab 10 boards a game (hell, even 8 ). Most of his prime years were spent with Antoine, Ricky Davis, or Wally as second options. Some guys talk about Garnett's "terrible" situation in Minny..let's talk about Pierce's situation. Management, the players, and the coaching was far worse here than it was in Minny before Ainge and Doc.
And yes, I did become a Celtic fan because of Pierce and the 2002 ECF run. I was 12 years old, and Pierce was freakin' awesome. He made me into a diehard Celtic fan, and I will be a fan when he retires. If he is traded, I will be pretty angry, but I will still be a fan of the C's.
It really grinds my gears when people treat Garnett like some kind of savior or saint and treat Pierce like some former malcontent, replaceable player. Most balanced fans understand that we needed both to win, and both of them (along with Ray) needed each other but surfing between here and realGM the last few weeks has been headache inducing. I've seen fans talking about getting rid of Pierce because he is old and trash now, but when the same fans are asked about KG, they say "no! he's the heart and soul! we can't get rid of him, he should retire here!". I mean how much disrespect can you have for the OG Celtic of this era? Maybe it's 'cause we saw Pierce in the bad years and some automatically associate all of that with him (however unfair that is). Pierce's greatest and most immature (only immature moment for me) was when he came out of the locker room with bandages around his face after the 2005 playoffs. But that's it. I guess if Pierce went to Minny, he would be the "savior" of their franchise. Who knows.