With all of the future Hall of Famers retiring this year like Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Amar'e Stoudemire there needs to be a couple of guys left over from the 1990s to pass the torch on to the young guns. Fortunately, there's still a couple of guys who are staying behind like Kevin Garnett (for now), Vince Carter and now Paul Pierce for sure.
Videos by FanBuzz
Paul Pierce is planning on returning to the Clippers for the 2016-17 season, his 19th in the NBA, per source.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 27, 2016
RELATED: Kobe's last game set an unreal sales record
Pierce had been contemplating retiring, but it seems that he's very much interested in being the Clippers' only reliable small forward for another season as that has been Doc Rivers' weakness —- signing a good small forward. Pierce could have joined a couple of legends, but it looks like he wants to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame a year or two after some of his buddies.
RELATED: Tim Duncan calls it a career
Pierce has averaged 20 points, 1.3 steals, 3.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in his 18 seasons in the league. He's a 10-time All-Star and of course is most known for bringing Boston its 17th championship with Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett in 2008. Pierce has never been known as one of the more athletic forwards, but he always finds a way to score and has come to be synonymous with the pump fake and flailing for a foul —- and it works more often than not.
Pierce was a Boston Celtic for most of his career until 2013 when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets that summer where he played for one season and then headed to Washington before landing with the Clippers where he's been since this past season.
