Quotes from Paul Pierce

When you give a team life, give a team confidence, anything can happen in a Game 7.

I always say I wish I was in my prime matching up against LeBron. Let's see how many championships he would have won then.

Dislike is what creates rivalries.

Every kid who just played basketball knew about the Boston Celtics. They're one of the few teams who were always on national TV along with the Lakers.

I understand when you have great players on losing teams who are tired of losing, struggling in the playoffs every year. You're the lone star. I've been in that position.

When you play on bad defensive teams, you get labeled as a bad defender.

The game isn't over till the clock says zero.

I didn't have a dad around to pick me up when I fell, throw the ball to me outside. I always wonder how it would be if I did have a dad there.

I always wanted a little brother because I felt like the little brother had to do everything.

When Shaq gave me the nickname, it wasn't no Joe-Bob giving you a nickname. This is Shaq. It was like, whoa.

I've always been known as a pure scorer, and I've always said if I just sat outside and shot 3s and just really focused on that - coming off of screens and spot-up 3s - and shot six or seven 3s a game, I would probably be more known as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history.

You've got to put in the work. And you've got to play with confidence. You've got to believe in yourself.

You see more friendships in the league. It's not like in the '80s when you had enemies, or you couldn't stand this guy, and there were fights all the time.

I knew I wasn't going to be a scientist; I knew that early. When they started talking about dissecting frogs, I knew I wasn't going to be a scientist.

I remember I didn't know who Jason Williams was, and he got drafted ahead of me. It was just weird. I thought I'd be in the top five, and I slipped all the way to 10, so it was a strange night for me.

Just soaking up the history of the Boston Celtics has been the best thing that's happened to me as a player.

I like the Raiders. That's my favorite team.

The '80s, '90s, and early 2000s genes of competitive fire are dead and gone.

I've got three beautiful kids that wear me out after I get home from practice. I think that's a good thing so I'm able to get my rest.

Good things only can last so long.

Old-school guys, they don't need to see the doctor, the massage therapist. We'd come in when we was 21; we'd go right to the court and start shooting.

Kids are the most genuine thing to me: everything they say and do, they mean it.

I'm a competitive person. I love the game of basketball. I'm a gym rat.

When you come off a losing season - one of the worst seasons in all of basketball - and get guys like Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, two perennial All-Stars, we felt like we had a championship team.