Calling the situation in Brooklyn tough last year, Paul Pierce held nothing back in discussing his one season with the Nets.
Hailed as championship contenders, the Nets were a mess all season — limping into the playoffs. Pierce talks about a team unwilling to work hard or even practice.
The ‘Truth’ told ESPN.com that “he and Kevin Garnett kept the Nets going” all season long and that “the team would have folded” if not for the former Celtics.
It was just the guys’ attitudes there. It wasn’t like we were surrounded by a bunch of young guys. 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.”
Pierce at that point crushed Deron Williams and his unwillingness to be a star.
“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.”