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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012
FINAL BORDER: SHOWDOWN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Jayhawks have the last laugh with the fans
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Dressed as Civil War figure Job Tigers fan passes by during Sa
Jayhawk fans hold up many differ tip off.
Words by Max Rothman
THE TRUTH, THE LEGEND
Paul Pierce
AT KANSAS YEARS: 1995-1998
"Take this down. My name is Shaquille O'Neal, and Paul Pierce is the motherj----- truth. Quote me on that, and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth."
Shaq spoke those words on March 13, 2001, not even six months after Pierce was stabbed 11 times in a Boston night club, minutes after he dropped 42 points on the Los Angeles Lakers, his favorite team as a kid. The Celtics lost that night 112-107, but that's not what people remember. Since that game, from California to Massachusetts, there is one justifiable truth, and his name is Paul Pierce.
It all started at the playgrounds of Inglewood, Calif., where Pierce grew up emulating his idol, Magic Johnson. Pierce took his basketball and dribbled down Cresenhaw Blvd., past junkies who scratch and gangs toting gats, evading cracks in sidewalks, keeping his head up and his basketball away from cars zooming by. When he finally got to the park, he played with whoever showed until the sun went down. This is how he formed his game. Never the strongest nor the fastest, Pierce has always used his creativity to score. The playgrounds were his labs for experimentation. Allen Fieldhouse and the parquet floor at the Boston Garden showcased the summation of his past.
ACCOLADES
- NBA Champion (2008)
· 13 NBA All-Star Game selections
· First team All-American (1998)
· Big Eight Freshman of the Year (1996)
· Big 12 Conference Tournament MVP (1997,1998)
· Eighth in Kansas school history with 1,768 points
His jersey number, 34, hangs in the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse
James scored 45 points, four more than his adversary, but Pierce won the game, and eventually the NBA Finals. It was the first Celtics championship since 1986, and it was sealed in a 131-92 blowout in Boston against — you guessed it — the Lakers. "It means so much more because these are the guys, the Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the Cousys," Pierce said. "These guys started what's going on with those banners. They don't hang up any other banners but championship ones. And now I'm a part of it."
DEFINING MOMENT
"The Big Three," along with Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, James Posey and others immediately formed one of the better teams in the NBA. The Celtics reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, ready for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The series featured elite defense and went to seven games. In the final bout, Pierce and James could have settled the game one-on-one. That's essentially what it was. Pierce knocked down a jump shot. James followed with his own. Pierce hit another. Then James once more.
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7. 24 HOUR GAME ROOM
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