The Celtics played 108 regular-season and playoff games on the way to winning the NBA championship last month. But Paul Pierce has not needed much time to recharge his batteries, the thrill of victory providing the motivation to start preparing for next season.
"It feels good, truthfully,"
Pierce said of the aftermath of the title run, capped by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. "It was kind of hard on the people out in LA. They were happy, but they were sorry, too. But it is what it is, the Boston Celtics are champions."
Pierce arrived in Boston yesterday to participate in a youth camp this week at Basketball City, accompanied by Jason Crowe, a former high school teammate and youth sports education director of Pierce's Truth Fund charity organization. Pierce has spent the offseason with his family in the Los Angeles area, with a stop in Las Vegas, and will return to LA for the ESPY awards presentation next week.
Meanwhile, Pierce is digesting the events of last season.
"So many moments,"
Pierce said. "I've been going back and watching games, checking them out. When you are in it, you don't understand the magnitude and the significance of it - until it's over and you are settling down and getting a chance to watch it."
"I was looking at some of the games the other day and I couldn't believe myself, some of the stuff I was doing. I'm ready to get back out and do it again. You get a taste of it, and it's like you want more."
Pierce, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Finals, said public perceptions have changed.
"It's a whole lot different,"
Pierce said. "It's the ultimate level. It's the respect that you get, everywhere, from everybody, all races. The whole world saw what we did."
"The craziest thing about this thing - I'm happy we won it and I'm kind of coming down off it - last week, I was thinking we've got to do this again. And that's what is going to motivate me next [season]."
Pierce said his strained right knee appears to be improving.
"While I'm here, I'll get an MRI on my knee,"
Pierce said. "I've still got some soreness, hopefully it's nothing major. I doubt if I'll need any surgery. It's getting better and better. I don't see any surgery in my future."
Pierce considers the MVP award a crowning achievement.
"I brought it back [to Los Angeles],"
Pierce said. "I showed it to everybody and my aunts and uncles, the looks in their eyes seeing it - it's tough to win the MVP during the regular season, with all the great players. But there is no better trophy than the MVP of the [Finals]."
Pierce is hopeful free agents such as Eddie House and James Posey return to the Celtics, but he is not counting on it.
"It's tough when you win a championship,"
Pierce said. "I've been talking with [general manager] Danny [Ainge] practically every day. Obviously, James's stock has gone up, Eddie's stock has gone up. They are the two most important guys we are trying to sign. It's difficult. Hopefully, they will return, because those guys were a big key to what we did."
