Speaking in Las Vegas before the NBPA's inaugural Players Awards, Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce said he was happy to go home, and the Los Angeles Lakers would have never been an option, via the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn:
“It’s a dream come true to be able to come home, finally,” Pierce said. “I grew up a Laker fan but playing on all the Boston Celtic teams . . . there’s no way I could go there — so this was the next best choice. And it’s always been a dream to play in front of my family and friends.”
The former Inglewood High star has been linked to the Clippers ever since his former Boston Celtics coach, Doc Rivers, went there. Those rumors never got going about the Lakers, and his connection to the Celtics franchise is one of the reasons why.
It's kind of nice that Pierce still cares about that rivalry, right? It still feels extremely wrong that Shaquille O'Neal finished his career with Boston. Pierce wearing a Lakers jersey would have looked even weirder than that, which is really saying something.
