Antics on social media appear to have claimed another victim. ESPN and its NBA analyst Paul Pierce parted ways after their wild Instagram Live, which included smoking marijuana and half-naked exotic dancers.
The Associated Press confirmed the split tonight.
Neither side has confirmed the reason for Paul’s departure yet, but sources told Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports today that the former Boston Celtics All-Star has been dismissed.
Pierce tweeted this cryptic clip shortly after 4:20 pm PT with the caption, “” Great things soon, stay tuned, make sure to smile #Truthshallsetufree ”:
Great things soon, stay tuned, make sure to smile #Truthshallsetufree pic.twitter.com/YIaJMcNQoH
– Paul Pierce (@ paulpierce34) April 5, 2021
And just an hour ago, Pierce followed up on another tweet, which said, “I can’t lose, even when I lose, I’m winning.”
I can’t lose, even when I lose, I’m winning 🤔🤔😳😃😃😃
– Paul Pierce (@ paulpierce34) April 6, 2021
Pierce started on ESPN in September 2017, a few months after his retirement from the NBA after 19 seasons. He was an NBA analyst for the World Leader, appearing on shows like The jump and NBA Countdown.
He started and ended his career as a Celtic, spending his first 15 years with the team, winning the NBA title in 2008 and being nominated for 10 All-Star teams. Only John Havlicek played more season with the Celtics (16), who retired Pierce’s jersey number 36.
Pierce ended as the Celtics’ all-time leader in 3-point field goal (1,823), free throws (6,434) and steals (1,583), and his 24,021 career points second only to Havlicek. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013, spent 2014-15 in Washington and played his last two seasons for the Los Angeles Clippers. Pierce re-signed with Boston in 2017 to retire as a Celtic.
He is nominated for the first time to induce the Basketball Hall of Fame with the Class of 2021.