Paul Pierce: His Most Underrated Season – CrownHoops
Paul Pierce is one of the greatest players in Boston Celtics‘ history. Not only is he one of the greatest Celtics of all time, but he is also one of the best players of all time. Sure, he may be known as the analyst who gives wild takes who got fired from ESPN for, let’s just say having a good time on Instagram Live, but fans don’t understand how cold the Truth was in his prime. The man is an NBA champion, Finals MVP, 10-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA Team member, and was on the All-Rookie Team in the 1998-99 season.
This was impressive considering this draft class contained the likes of Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Jason Williams, Mike Bibby, and Antawn Jamison. With this impressive NBA resume in mind, it makes sense to go over Pierce’s most overlooked season from his career. Is it the year he won the title? The season where he came back from a stabbing and still played at a high level? Is it even a season where he was donning the kelly green and white? Without further adieu, let’s take a look at Paul Pierce’s most underrated campaign.
Paul Pierce: The 2000-01 Season
By Pierce’s third season in the league, he had already solidified himself as one of the up-and-coming superstars. Unfortunately, the Celtics were still trying to find the right pieces to build around him. The team would finish with a win-loss record of 36-46 and of course, miss the postseason. This record would net fifth place in the Atlantic Division.
However, the team’s shortcomings in this particular season were hardly a result of Paul Pierce. Pierce was one of the few bright spots of the Celtics and one of the few things they had to look forward to as they were rebuilding. Outside of Pierce and Antoine Walker, no other player on this roster even averaged double figures in points. If the Boston Celtics were not so bad in this certain year, the Truth could have made his first All-Star Game in the 2000-01 campaign rather than the following season.
P-Double’s Numbers in the 2000-01 Season
As alluded to already, Pierce put up good enough numbers to warrant All-Star consideration. His team was just not good enough. Pierce put up 25.3 points, 6.4 total rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. On top of this, he also tallied an effective field goal percentage of 50.3 percent and even averaged 1.7 steals per game. However, Pierce’s advanced numbers from this campaign were impressive as well.
Pierce averaged an offensive rating of 107 to couple with a defensive rating of 102. He also came away with a true shooting percentage of 56.3 percent and also put up a player efficiency rating of 22.3, a total in this category that would end up being tied for the second-best of his career. The cherry on top was a defensive rebounding percentage of 16.7 percent. When you take into account these numbers and the supporting cast Paul Pierce had in this season, it is clear this is the most overlooked campaign of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
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