Bill Burt
It has been lost in the comparisons to decades earlier — Larry vs. Magic, Tinseltown vs. Beantown, East vs. West or Pat Riley vs. K.C. Jones.
It also has been lost in the fact that Kobe Bryant apparently has to show America he can win one without Shaq or that Kevin Garnett can win one at all.
It is the Paul Pierce Factor.
If you want the truth about "The Truth," — Pierce's Shaq-given nickname — Boston's captain might have more at stake in the NBA finals than anybody else.
Los Angeles was home. Boston is home.
Pierce grew up literally a half-dozen miles from the "Fabulous" Forum, and rooted for the Los Angeles Lakers. You know those NBA playoff commercials about current NBA stars, like LeBron James and Garnett, saying they remember Larry Bird and Magic Johnson?
The guy that should have been selling this spring's second season was Pierce.
"That's what I grew up with, the Celtics and the Lakers," said Pierce after the Celtics beat the Pistons in Detroit to fill the finals dream dance party.
"The Celtics and Lakers are why I played," said Pierce. "I can't believe this is happening."
With regrets to Kobe and KG, the alpha dogs of this dream matchup, Pierce could write a book about humility and perseverance.
He was the best thing Rick Pitino did for the Boston Celtics — or maybe the only thing — drafting Pierce (or lucky he was available) with the 10th overall pick of the 1998 NBA draft.
By his second season he was scoring nearly 20 points per game (19.5) and by his third he topped 25 a tilt.
But while the scoring appeared to be easy, nothing else was. He played second fiddle to one of the most dysfunctional Celtics leaders ever in Antoine Walker. And he withstood three blow-it-up-and-rebuild-it-again rebuilding projects, not to mention four coaches in Pitino, Jim O'Brien, John Carroll and Doc Rivers.
Pierce has borne the brunt of both anger and, more recently, apathy toward the Celtics.
With his biological NBA clock ticking — he turned 30 on Oct. 13 — Pierce wanted out. He didn't want another 18-, 19- or 20-year-old, no matter how good he was.
Pierce was lucky on this one. Rivers didn't want one either. Neither did, as we later found out, Celtics president Danny Ainge or Celtics ownership.
"I had to talk to Paul a few times to let him know that I realized he was frustrated," said Ainge. "We were all frustrated. He wanted to win and I couldn't blame him."
Pierce's Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers was the stuff of legends. He didn't beat LeBron James, maybe the most gifted athlete in the world not named Tiger Woods, but his 41 points (James had 45) nullified the Cavs' chances of an upset.
Garnett is the leader, but this is Pierce's team. Pierce is the one Celtic who can turn nothing into something when it matters most.
What has happened this season is he hasn't had to do it every game. Thanks to Garnett and Ray Allen, Pierce has been able to rest his 30-year-old body more frequently.
Pierce is the one Celtic who can go hoop-for-hoop, drive-for-drive and possession-for-possession with Kobe Bryant on a given night and walk away the victor.
The Celtics' staple is defense. That won't change when the series begins Thursday in Boston.
But Pierce has more to play for in these finals. He has laid it on the line for this franchise, through thick and mostly through thin, and he has the most to gain.
He has seen Bill Russell. He has heard about Larry Bird. And he couldn't miss the 16 championship banners overhead at the Boston Garden if he tried.
He wondered, in fact doubted, if an opportunity like this would ever happen as a member of the Celtics.
It has. It really has.
And it's against the team he grew up idolizing, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nobody deserves this more than Paul Pierce. Not Kobe. Not Kevin Garnett.
E-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com. You can also read his blog, "Burt Talks Sports," at blogs.eagletribune.com/sports.
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