What is Paul Pierce's Net Worth?
Paul Pierce is a retired American professional basketball player who has a net worth of $80 million. Paul Pierce played 19 seasons in the NBA, mostly with the Boston Celtics. He was the 10th overall pick at the 1998 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics and would go on to spend the next 15 years with the team. He was a ten-time All-Star with the team and led them to the NBA Finals in 2008 and 2010, winning the 2008 NBA Finals. He was named the 2008 NBA Finals MVP in his first trip to the NBA Finals.
Pierce is one of only three players, alongside Larry Bird and John Havlicek, to have scored over 20,000 points in their career with the Celtics alone. Pierce holds the Celtics' record for most three-point field goals made as well. He ranks third in team history in games played, second in points scored, seventh in total rebounds, fifth in total assists and first in total steals. His nickname "The Truth" was given to him by player Shaquille O'Neal after a 112-107 Lakers' victory over the Celtics on March 13, 2001 in which Pierce scored 42 points on 13 of 19 shots. Pierce went on to play for the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and Los Angeles Clippers before retiring in 2017. In August 2017, Paul was hired to be a studio analyst for ESPN. He was fired by ESPN in April 2021 after posting a racy video to Instagram featuring two scantily clad women.
Career Earnings
Over a career that spanned 1998 to 2018, Paul earned $198 million in NBA salary alone. That's enough to make him one of the 25 highest-paid players in NBA history in terms of total career earnings. He earned tens of millions more from endorsements. At his peak in the 2009-2010 era, Paul earned $19 million in NBA salary plus $3-4 million per year from endorsements.
Early Life and High School
Paul Pierce was born on October 13, 1977 in Oakland, California. He eventually moved with his family to Inglewood, where he attended Inglewood High School. Although he was cut from the school's varsity basketball team in both his freshman and sophomore years, Pierce hit the gym and transformed himself into the best player on the team when he was a junior. As a senior, he averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds per game. Pierce went on to play in the 1995 McDonald's All-American Game.
Collegiate Career
For college, Pierce played basketball with the University of Kansas Jayhawks from 1995 to 1998. For both his sophomore and junior years, he earned Big 12 Conference MVP awards. Pierce's junior season, his last at Kansas, was his best, as he scored 777 points, the fifth-most single-season points in school history.
Boston Celtics, 1998-2008
In the 1998 NBA draft, Pierce was chosen with the 10th overall pick by the Boston Celtics. He finished his first season on the team averaging 16.5 points per game. Pierce improved in his second season, averaging 19.5 points per game, and improved even more in his third season, averaging 25.3 points per game. In his fourth season with the Celtics in 2001-02, he led the team to the playoffs and to the Eastern Conference Finals. It was during Game 3 of the Finals that the Celtics had the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history, with Pierce scoring 19 points in the final 12 minutes as the Celtics erased a 21-point deficit to defeat the New Jersey Nets 94-90. However, the Nets ended up winning the series. Pierce had another accomplishment in 2002 as the league-leader in total points, with 2,144.
Pierce's greatest season with the Celtics was in 2007-08, when he combined with the newly acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to form the "Big Three." Together, the trio led the Celtics to the biggest single-season turnaround in NBA history, helping the team to 66 regular-season victories. After beating the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals. Although an injury in the third quarter took him briefly off the court, Pierce returned to lead his team to a 98-88 victory, giving the Celtics their 17th overall championship title. He was subsequently named MVP of the NBA Finals for averaging 22 points per game across six games.
Boston Celtics, 2008-2013
Pierce and the Celtics came up short the season after their championship victory, falling in the second round of the playoffs. They got further in the 2009-10 season, beating the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals and making it to the NBA Finals in a rematch against the Lakers. This time, the Lakers won. The following season, Pierce scored his 20,000th career point and again helped lead the Celtics to the playoffs, where they fell to the Miami Heat in the second round. He recorded another major achievement in 2012 when he passed Larry Bird to take second place on the Celtics' all-time scoring list. That season, the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to the Heat in seven games.
Pierce played his final season with the Celtics in 2012-13. He finished with averages of 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, while the Celtics made it to the playoffs with the 7th seed and a 41-40 regular-season record. The team ultimately fell to the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.
Brooklyn Nets
Pierce was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2013. In his first and only season with the team, he averaged 13.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across 75 games. Pierce also scored his 25,000th career point, making him the 18th player in NBA history to do so. The Nets made it to the playoffs that postseason, but lost in the second round to the Heat.
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Washington Wizards
In the summer of 2014, Pierce signed with the Washington Wizards. He finished his first and only season with the team with a career-low average of 11.9 points per game. The Wizards went on to play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, losing to the Atlanta Hawks.
Los Angeles Clippers
Pierce signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2015. He played two seasons with the team, and made it to the playoffs in his second season. However, the Clippers were defeated by the Utah Jazz in the first round. Following the season, Pierce was waived by the Clippers. Shortly after that, he retired from the NBA.
Post-NBA Career
After retiring from the NBA, Pierce became a studio analyst for the ESPN shows "The Jump" and "NBA Countdown." His employment at the network came to an end in 2021 when he was fired for live-streaming a poker game featuring alcohol, marijuana, and several scantily clad women.
Personal Life
Pierce was previously married to Julie Landrum, with whom he had three children named Prianna, Adrian, and Prince.
In 2000, Pierce was stabbed 11 times in the face, neck, and back while at a dance club in Boston. He underwent surgery to repair the damage.
Real Estate
In 2009 Paul paid $6.5 million for a lavish mansion in a gated Calabasas community. The 8-bedroom mansion spans 16,000 square feet, has a in infinity pool and a half basketball court. Paul listed the home in November 2020 for $10.995 million. He accepted $9.995 million at the end of March 2021. Here's a video tour of this former mansion:
