At least Paul Pierce is self-aware.
The Boston Celtics legend was so confident that his former team would win Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New York Knicks that he said he would make the 20-mile walk to work if they lost again to fall into an 0-2 hole in the series.
As Game 2 went through the first three quarters, it looked like Pierce had nothing to worry about. But then, improbably, the Celtics collapsed again. They blew a 20-point lead on their home floor for the second time in as many games to do the unthinkable.
To his credit, Paul Pierce made good on his promise. At least, it appeared that way on social media. Pierce posted videos of himself walking outside in Los Angeles and showing a map that outlined his 20-mile walk to work in his bathrobe.
Finally, when Speak made it on the air on Thursday afternoon, Paul Pierce was wheeled into the studio in a wheelchair, harkening back to one of the most famous (or infamous) moments in his Hall of Fame career. The Curb Your Enthusiasm music was just the cherry on top.
Pierce famously used a wheelchair to leave the court in Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals when he led the Celtics to the NBA championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. His quick recovery has been the subject of rumor and innuendo over the years, and even Pierce has even played into the jokes about it. So, to bring back the wheelchair after paying off his walk-a-thon bet was a stroke of genius.
It continued at the end of the show as Pierce was pushed out of the studio in the wheelchair by a dinosaur, which was the other part of his guarantee before Game 2.
Luckily for Paul Pierce, he didn’t make any bets or grandiose guarantees before Game 3 of the series for his own health and well-being.
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