As Pierce Points Pile Up, Bird Weighs In

2006
Boston's Paul Pierce is eighth on the Celtics' all-time scoring list. He's fewer than 600 points behind seventh-place Bill Russell. He is more than halfway to John Havlicek at No. 1, in fewer than half the games Havlicek played (53 percent of the points in 47 percent of the games). Pierce is near his fourth 2,000-point season, a feat accomplished in Boston only by Larry Bird, and is second to Bird in career per-game average, 24.3-23.4.

"Paul Pierce could end up being the best offensive player this team ever had," Celtics great Tommy Heinsohn told The Boston Herald. "And I've seen them all."

But Bird said it's hard to compare guys that have never been to The Finals with other players.

"If you gear yourself to play six months of the year, it's completely different than gearing yourself to play nine months a year," Bird said.

"My whole focus was trying to gear myself to play nine months a year. . . . I ain't taking nothing away from [Pierce], but the thing is, the playoffs are what make you as a player. I mean, you can sit and talk about players all you want, but until you get in the playoffs and play for the big prize year after year..."