Kevin Durant’s Version of Infamous Paul Pierce Incident Lead to 2nd Half Hiatus In Spurs Upset

The recent faceoff between the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns definitely brought with it some unusual moments. With Spurs star player Victor Wembanyama being out of the picture after having sustained an injury, the Suns were looking to make use of the advantage and secure another win for themselves. However, problems started to occur after injuries and poor defensive play plagued the team.

If all of that wasn’t enough, Suns power forward Kevin Durant ended up committing an action that sent many people’s heads scratching. The 2 half rolled around with the Suns barely leading by 3 points. Onlookers at the AT&T center were left confused after Kevin Durant didn’t show up during the first few minutes of the same.

A reporter from the Arizona Republic recently took to his official X account to provide an update on what occurred by writing “For the curious: Kevin Durant didn’t start 2nd half as he had to use the bathroom. #Suns”. Durant eventually returned and played for a few more minutes to bring his score total to 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. However, that didn’t prove to be enough as the Spurs ended up clinching a close win by 2 points.

Long time NBA enthusiasts have been able to draw a parallel between what occurred with Durant and what occurred with former NBA player Paul Pierce during the 2008 NBA Finals. Playing alongside the Boston Celtics, Pierce had worked with other scorers like Kevin Garnett to bring the franchise to their first finals since the 1986-87 season. During the third quarter of Game 1, Pierce famously tripped over Kendrick Perkins and fell down on his knee. Onlookers watched as the small forward held his knee in pain and eventually had to be taken away from the court in a wheelchair. To everyone’s surprise, however, Pierce returned to the court and added a few more points to bring his total to 22 and secure a win for his team.

Pierce’s actions started to raise speculation that the player allegedly ‘faked’ his injury so that he could go to the bathroom. Even after 16 years, a now 46-year-old Pierce cannot get away from the ‘wheelchair’ incident. Furthermore, it didn’t help that the former player himself seemed to have ‘admitted’ to what actually took place.

Paul Pierce confirmed-and then unconfirmed-the bathroom theory

Back in June 2019, Paul Pierce made an appearance during an ESPN broadcast right before Game 3 of the NBA finals. During the same, anchor Michelle Beadle highlighted how it had been 11 years since the person on her right chose to take a wheelchair when he didn’t need to. Pierce didn’t take too long in replying “I have a confession to make. I just had to go to a bathroom”. When Chauncey Billups asked how a wheelchair came into the equation, the former player said “something went down”.

While it didn’t take long for that clip to go viral, it also didn’t take long for Pierce to go back on his original statement. Taking to his official Twitter (now X) account, he wrote “Sorry to bust y’all haters bubble but the only (poop emoji) Ing I did June 5 2008 was on the Lakers #factz #haterzgonnahate #(laughing emoji)”.

Where do you stand on this conspiracy theory? Let us know in the comments down below.

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