The former NBA Finals MVP and Boston Celtics’ Hall of Famer Paul Pierce has played 19 seasons in the league with multiple franchises. During an iconic matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers, Peirce scored 42 points. Even though the Celtics lost the match, Peirce’s performance was acknowledged by Shaquille O’Neil, who later gave him his nickname “The Truth.”
Peirce’s game got recognition all over the league in the 2000–01 season, but before the season began, he went through a terrible and near-death experience and played through the season while recovering from 11 knife wounds.
Paul Peirce was stabbed 11 times in a brutal club fight
On September 25, 2000, a month before the start of the 2000–01 NBA season, Paul Peirce became a victim of mob violence at a private party he attended days before the beginning of the Boston Celtics’ training camp for the coming season.
He got stabbed a total of 11 times by a group of men at the party. He was slashed through his stomach, which cut his diaphragm, punctured his lung, and hit on the head with a glass bottle, which caused several wounds throughout his upper body.
Peirce was rushed to the hospital immediately, and everybody was unsure if he would survive, but fortunately, he did. While he was recovering, concerns were raised about his professional basketball career and how long it would take for him to overcome the trauma and get back to health.
But the legend of the game made it back to the court and played through the season after the terrible stabbing incident in Boston in 2000 per NY Post.
Paul Peirce talks about mental trauma after the incident
After the incident took place, Peirce was depressed and paranoid, and he used to carry a gun with him everywhere. Throughout his recovery, he was angry and always thought about revenge while he isolated himself from friends and family.
During that time, all he thought about was getting back on the court, which helped him channel his anger. He considered that incident ‘life-altering’ and, after overcoming the trauma, he worked on his game and ended up playing every single match that season, averaging 25.3 ppg at the age of 22.
“Me going through that incident, it was just like, man, I really need to focus on basketball. I shouldn’t really be in the streets or chasing girls or going to the club. It’s like, I really just need to zero back in on basketball. And that took up my whole life at that point from there on out,” he said in an interview with Ticket and Truth.
After the career-highlighting season, Peirce made his way to the All-Star roster the following season and ended up making the finals twice, winning the championship for the Boston Celtics in 2008 after defeating a Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakers in an intense series.
