Paul Pierce: Nets Would Have ‘Folded’ Without Me and KG
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce leveled some harsh criticisms toward the Brooklyn Nets and their star point guard Deron Williams in a recent interview with ESPN.com‘s Jackie MacMullen.
After being traded by the Celtics to the Nets, Pierce characterized his time in Brooklyn as “horrible.”
“It was just the guys’ attitudes there. It wasn’t like we were surrounded by a bunch of young guys,” he said. “They were vets who didn’t want to play and didn’t want to practice. I was looking around saying, ‘What’s this?’ Kevin [Garnett] and I had to pick them up every day in practice.”
“If me and Kevin weren’t there, that team would have folded up. That team would have packed it in. We kept them going each and every day,” he continued.
The player that drew the most attention from Pierce was Williams.
“Before I got there, I looked at Deron as an MVP candidate,” Pierce said. “But I felt once we got there, that’s not what he wanted to be. He just didn’t want that. I think a lot of the pressure got to him sometimes. This was his first time in the national spotlight. The media in Utah is not the same as the media in New York, so that can wear on some people. I think it really affected him.”
Brooklyn traded its 2014 first round pick, as well as 2016 and 2018 picks to acquire Pierce, Garnett and Jason Terry. The Nets lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Miami Heat.
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