Passing Larry Bird a humbling milestone

Man that one stings. Really tough loss against the Lakers, especially on the home court, but we’ll move on and use it as motivation for the next time. But, finally I can say we’re back to playing the kinda ball I know we’re capable of! You can see us starting to get a better feel for each other, especially on defense.

I got to celebrate a pretty cool personal milestone on Tuesday night against Charlotte, one I never even dreamt of when I first got drafted by the Celtics. Of course, team success and gettin' back to the Finals is my main priority, but I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I wasn’t proud to become the second all-time leading scorer in Celtics history. If you look at how many great players have worn the green, I’m humbled to be recognized among them. This was a real special moment and I’m glad it happened at the Garden in front of my home crowd. You guys have been behind me all these years and so it’s yours as much as mine.

While individual accomplishments aren’t something I think about a lot, it’s good to see the hard work pay off and that I got to do it all with one of the greatest franchises in sports. This day and age, having a player spend their whole career with one team isn’t something you see too much. And it’s definitely a two-way street. Wyc, Danny and Doc had the faith in me to keep me here and I’m grateful for that and try to go out there every night and show them and my teammates that they made the right choice.

I’ve been through a lot of good and some not so good years here, but I’ve been lucky enough to stay pretty healthy, and just remain persistent and consistent. It’s a combination of things you gotta have to reach this type of accomplishment. A lot of things have to go in your favor, but you’ve still got to put in the hard work and take care of yourself. That’s something I’ve definitely focused on the past few years and something I’ve tried to share with my fans, especially the kids out there, through my Truth on Health Campaign, www.truthonhealth.org. I try to pay a lot of attention to what I eat and make sure that I’m getting enough rest. Playing professional ball for a living, you have to make these things a part of your lifestyle, especially as you get older. It’s a big goal of mine to try and instill these values in young kids now so that it becomes part of their life too.

Now that I’ve moved into 2nd, I keep getting questions on whether I think I’ll pass my man Hondo to eventually retire as the top Celtics scorer in history – to be honest, I’m not so sure. Anything’s possible of course, but 4,500 is a lotta points man! I think about how long I want to play, and health will always be a factor, but it’s also something I’m not really chasing. I never thought about passing Larry Bird when I first came to this franchise. All you really think about is trying to win a championship and being the best player that you can be and the individual achievements will come. Passing Havlicek isn’t really something I’m gonna chase and I’m not the kinda guy who continues to play just for the records. Our ultimate goal is always to try and bring back another championship to Boston. That’s definitely my priority. I think you’re remembered more for winning titles than personal records in this sport because it’s such a team game. And, that’s especially true here in this city. They don’t call Boston Title Town for nothing!

Follow Paul Pierce on Twitter @PaulPierce34 and @TruthonHealth and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/paulpierce