Some Pierce fans in LA proud to be going green

[greasybugsy]

Lakers fans might have been stewing as the Celtics' Paul Pierce led his teammates in chants of "Beat LA, Beat LA," after Boston eliminated Detroit in six games Friday night to advance to the NBA Finals.

Two Lakers fans in Los Angeles, however, were smiling, as Scott Collins and Pat Roy will be rooting for Pierce during the Finals.

No Celtic has stronger ties to Los Angeles than Pierce, who grew up in Inglewood, Calif., a huge Lakers and Magic Johnson fan.

"That was funny. I'm sure he heard, 'Beat LA,' as a kid and hated that chant back then," said Collins, an Inglewood police detective who is Pierce's longtime mentor, in a phone interview. "And now, he's leading it . . .

"Soon as the Lakers made it to the Finals, all these Lakers flags were out [on cars] with the fair-weather fans. People are pumped up here for Lakers-Celtics. But the story is about how the Inglewood boy who grew up here as a Lakers fan is now going to take the Lakers down."

Said Roy, Pierce's coach at Inglewood High: "A lot of people in Los Angeles have mixed emotions. They've always hated green and white. But they've got mixed feelings having watched homegrown Paul Pierce grow up. I'm going green because of Paul."

Most of the Celtics have LA connections, so getting tickets for family and friends might be a chore.

Kevin Garnett owns a home in Malibu. Sam Cassell, Eddie House, and coach Doc Rivers played for the Clippers. In fact, the Clippers bought out Cassell, allowing him to sign with Boston. Brian Scalabrine and rookie Gabe Pruitt, a Los Angeles native, both played at Southern Cal. Ray Allen was a Lakers fan while living in Rosamond, Calif., and Scot Pollard went to high school in San Diego. And House and Leon Powe grew up in the Bay Area.

With the Lakers playing just down the street from him at the Forum until 1999, Pierce became a huge fan. He rubbed elbows with the Lakers when they practiced at Inglewood High. Collins, who worked security at Lakers games, recalled the times Pierce used to sneak into the Forum.

"He was a huge Lakers fan," Roy said. "That's all he used to talk about, the Lakers. When he did a dunk at practice [at Inglewood High], he'd say he's James Worthy. He ran point forward so he thought he was Magic Jr. Everything he talked about revolved around the Lakers."

Johnson began hosting an offseason charity event in Los Angeles called "Midsummer Night's Magic," which included a pro and celebrity all-star game. Almost $20 million was raised over the two decades of the event.

In 2006, Johnson passed the event on to Pierce and Golden State guard Baron Davis, also a Los Angeles native. The event is now called the "LA Stars Celebrity All-Star Charity Weekend" and last year it included a pro and amateur game.

Pierce does charity work in Los Angeles, so it will be interesting to see what kind of reception he gets from the Lakers fans. Collins expects a mix of cheers and boos, and some loud cheers from him and Roy.

"He gave me one of his jerseys after he signed with the Celtics," Roy said. "I have never worn the jersey. But when the Celtics come to Los Angeles during the Finals, I'll wear it for the first time. I'm super proud of seeing his success after growing up in the inner city. He's a huge success."

When asked what it would be like if Pierce had the chance to hoist the championship trophy at Staples Center, Collins said, "It would be almost as good as watching my kids being born. It would mean a lot. I'd never bet against Paul. I always feel he'll come out on top."

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketb...e_going_green/

[smusic]

never liked Pierce never will.
"I'd never bet against Paul. I always feel he'll come out on top."
How about all the years when he was leading the team to shit records? KG is the man the stories should be about, he came in and lead their team to the best record in the NBA.
The only thing I like about Pierce is that gay lil chicken run he does after he hits a shot, it's pretty amusing

[phoshiz]

Originally Posted by smusic

never liked Pierce never will.
"I'd never bet against Paul. I always feel he'll come out on top."
How about all the years when he was leading the team to shit records? KG is the man the stories should be about, he came in and lead their team to the best record in the NBA.
The only thing I like about Pierce is that gay lil chicken run he does after he hits a shot, it's pretty amusing

haha somebody is still mad at pierce out performing james

[smusic]

Originally Posted by phoshiz

haha somebody is still mad at pierce out performing james

naw dawg I could care less about that and if u really wanna talk James outperformed Pierces whole career in just this year.
LBJ- 30pts 7.2ast 7.9 reb
You can take Pierces best averages from each of those stats in any year in his career, combine them and he still never came close to that statline so....

Actually when did Pierce ever outperform James??? The main reason the Celtics won that series was Garnett, take any player from the Cavs besides James and switch him with Garnett and the Cavs probably sweep that series

[2-4]

^^lol LeBroom

[smusic]

Originally Posted by 2-4

^^lol LeBroom

what does that have to do with Paul Pierce?

[greasybugsy]

Yea too bad Basketball is a team sport & not an individual one... Pierce and his team are in the NBA finals, Lebron is sitting home watching it.... Kobe also put up around 36 PPG in years where his team sucked..... The Celtics are where they are due to team play, great defense.. and guys willing to give up individual accomplishments in turn for team success..Paul Pierce had some big games and matched up with Lebron pretty well in the series.... There were a few games where Lebron was basically shut down... and im not a bigger fan of either of these players, so my opinions are neutral..... at the end of the day, Lebron will have bigger individual numbers.But the whole point is to win championships, not to see how big your PPG avg can be.Pierce could hog the ball & score 35 - 40 a night, and his team would be like the Cavs, watching the Finals from home.

[2-4]

Originally Posted by greasybugsy

Yea too bad Basketball is a team sport & not an individual one... Pierce and his team are in the NBA finals, Lebron is sitting home watching it.... Kobe also put up around 36 PPG in years where his team sucked..... The Celtics are where they are due to team play, great defense.. and guys willing to give up individual accomplishments in turn for team success..Paul Pierce had some big games and matched up with Lebron pretty well in the series.... There were a few games where Lebron was basically shut down... and im not a bigger fan of either of these players, so my opinions are neutral..... at the end of the day, Lebron will have bigger individual numbers.But the whole point is to win championships, not to see how big your PPG avg can be.Pierce could hog the ball & score 35 - 40 a night, and his team would be like the Cavs, watching the Finals from home.

lol co-sign to the fullest, Cavs are so close yet so far, not a big fan of LeBron's surroundings, we'll see how the roster looks like for the start of next season

[smusic]

Originally Posted by greasybugsy

Yea too bad Basketball is a team sport & not an individual one... Pierce and his team are in the NBA finals, Lebron is sitting home watching it.... Kobe also put up around 36 PPG in years where his team sucked..... The Celtics are where they are due to team play, great defense.. and guys willing to give up individual accomplishments in turn for team success..Paul Pierce had some big games and matched up with Lebron pretty well in the series.... There were a few games where Lebron was basically shut down... and im not a bigger fan of either of these players, so my opinions are neutral..... at the end of the day, Lebron will have bigger individual numbers.But the whole point is to win championships, not to see how big your PPG avg can be.Pierce could hog the ball & score 35 - 40 a night, and his team would be like the Cavs, watching the Finals from home.

Yea its a team sport but the main part of the team is the individuals.
Last year Celtics were 24-58.
Offseason They pick up KG and Allen
Put up a record of 66-16
So lets put 2+2 together, what turned a lottery team into a contender? They were a lottery team with Pierce, KG comes along and now they're a contender. Allan isnt an impact player, he's a good role player.
I really dont understand ur point, your acting like Pierce is some kind of never loose big time game-winner. You know the Celtics sucked before KG right? The Cavs have been a consistant force in the playoffs the last few years and the Celtics have been lottery status.
So what are u tryin to say?

[jbzy]

all you came in here to do is hate? dude was basically just posting a news article and you say about how you don't like pierce, what's the point of that. keep that in the nba thread, or to yourself.

lol pierce missed like 50-55 games last season (why their record was so bad). and the past like 2 seasons before that they were right about where the cavs are currently record wise. give or take 4-5 wins.