Pee-Pee is not really all that tough...

The year was 1995. We met Paul Pierce while he was playing in The Boston Shootout, which at the time was one of the best high school all-star setting in the country. Pierce, having just graduated from Inglewood (CA) High School, was the drawing card on the California entry.

After his game the first day, he was sitting in the bleachers watching another game. We walked over and introduced ourselves and gave him a copy of our publication (a mixture of college football/basketball, with a heavy dose of recruiting.) We had interviewed many prep stars over the years (Stephon Marbury, Antoine Walker and Baron Davis -- to drop three names), and Pierce was one of the nicest kids around. He willingly posed for pictures reading our publication. When we were done, he held up the publication and politely asked, "Can I keep this?"

We watched him throughout his three years at Kansas. In our basement, we proudly displayed a picture of him reading our publication. In 1998, we looked forward to him joining Our Philadelphia 76ers. Yet, with the eighth pick, the Suckers Sixers took...wait for it...Larry Hughes. The hated Celtics gobbled up Pierce two picks later.

And that was the last time we were Paul Pierce fans. He was a Celtic. We hated all Celtics. It was rather simple.

Check that. Antoine Walker was a Celtic, too. Yet, we never minded him.

What gives?

As polite and gracious as Pierce was when we met him fresh our of high school, Walker was even more of a gentleman. Just as important, Walker remained a stand up guy even after he became an NBA star. Pierce, on the other hand, went south. And went south rather quickly. As a high school graduate in 1995, he was an articulate kid, good mannered kid. By his second year in the NBA, he started speaking like a street thug. Every sentence seemed to end with, "man".

C'mon, man.

Why you talkin' that way, man?

Hey, man.

No only did his speech change. His body language changed. His facial expressions varied from sulking to looking angry and back to sulking.

He became a phony. He wanted everyone to think he was this Angry Black man. Yet, he was once a Nice Black Kid.

The irony was that while he was acting all tough, he came thisclose to getting stabbed to death in a dance club. In fact, the only thing that saved his life was the fact that he was Fonzi wearing a heavy leather jacket. During the trial, Pierce had trouble remembering who stabbed him. Most assumed he was too scared to finger the defendants. He hired body guards to protect him 24 hours a day.

He wants everyone to think he is a tough guy. Reality is he is a big baby. A big fraud. And a total loser. The "alleged" gang sign that Pee Pee wants everyone to think was the team signal for "Blood, Sweat & Tears"?!?!? Funny, that we have never seen him throw it down in an opponent's face before. So it must have just been a coincidence that he did it after Atlanta's Al Horford got in Fat Boy's Pee Pee's face?

Oh, OK.

We have no doubt Pee Pee was throwing down a gang sign. It's his personality. Not to be a gang banger, but a TOTAL FRAUD. He is as much of a gang banger as your mailman is. But he wanted everyone to know how tough he is. KG, his teammate, is ultra-tough. Yet, he does not feel the need to throw down signs announcing his toughness. Pee Pee could learn many things from Garnett. First and foremost is the fact that you show people how tough you are not by wearing a leather coat or flashing gang signs. And not by changing your dialect to sound like you are hardened by the streets. No, you simply prove your toughness by keeping your mouth shut and working hard.

KG is a man we admire and cheer. Paul Pierce is a loser.

More Pee Pee/gang sign stuff:

Pee Pee defends his hand gesture!

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Pee Pee's "menacing gesture"!

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Pee Pee gets docked $25K

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Reverend Al Sharpton says Pee Pee should give $50K to at-risk kids!