Paul Pierce slams narratives of “fake news” on stabbing incident

Despite his impressive résumé, it seems like NBA fans somewhat overlook Paul Pierce.

He's a former NBA champion, an NBA Finals MVP, a 10-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA player, a former 3-point shooting contest winner, a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and a Hall of Famer.

He's also one of three players to score 20,000 points with the Boston Celtics, along with Larry Bird and John Havlicek.

Notably, that's why the former small forward wanted the fans to put some respect on his name. With that in mind, he took to X to respond to a post that showed some of his highlights from the 2000-01 season, which took place just one month after being stabbed 11 times in the face, neck and back at a nightclub.

Pierce still averaged 25.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game and shot almost 48% from the floor while playing all 82 games.

"People gonna say this fake news tho," Pierce responded.

Of course, he might be taking a shot at those who believe another of his epic stories isn't true.

Paul Pierce denies infamous 'poop' story

For years, there were rumors and conspiracy theories about why he left Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals in a wheelchair.

He was in evident pain and left the floor before eventually returning and dropping 22 points to lead his team to a 98-88 win over Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers. But the fans don't remember that game because of that.

Instead, the word around NBA fans is that he had to go to the bathroom, which is something he confirmed on ESPN during the 2019 NBA Finals.

Even so, he later denied those claims in a 2023 talk with Kevin Garnett, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart:

“I sprained my MCL,” Pierce said. “Don’t believe all them rumors that I had to go to the bathroom.”

When asked whether he requested to leave in a wheelchair, Pierce claimed that it wasn't even his decision:

“I sprained my MCL, and the doctor said, ‘No, no, no, don’t put no weight on it,'” Pierce added. “I’m like, alright, I’m going to stand up. He’s like, don’t put no weight on it. Then they carried me. I didn’t ask for that. I didn’t say go get the wheelchair.”

Pierce eventually helped the Celtics win a ring and was named Finals MVP that year, so there might be better things to remember that infamous series for.