With Celtics legend Paul Pierce giving different takes, his injury against the LA Lakers in Game 1 of the 2008 Finals remains a mystery. If you watched the game, you’d remember Pierce falling down under the basket against the Lakers. He appeared to have injured his leg on the play and the physios escorted him from the court in a wheelchair.

But his return to the game shortly thereafter raised suspicions. And the fans ran wild with their speculations. Almost 16 years from then, the former Boston Celtics star has yet again opened up on the dramatic moment in his conversation with Magic Johnson. Who wouldn’t?

Appearing on Speak, Magic Johnson, who playfully asked why he “faked” the injury grilled Pierce. With a laugh, The Truth owned up to the theatrics: “I’m from LA. I have a flair for the dramatic.” It’s hard not to chuckle with him, but Pierce’s playful admission doesn’t settle the long-running debate. Was it an injury, or something else entirely?

If you’ve followed the saga, you know fans didn’t let it go. Social media exploded with theories. The wildest of which claimed The Truth didn’t injure his leg at all but had, well, an embarrassing bathroom emergency. This theory, fueled by countless Reddit threads and even The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion, gained serious traction when Pierce appeared to confirm it on ESPN in 2019. “Something went down. I just had to go to the bathroom,” he admitted.

But, as Pierce often does, he flipped the narrative again during his appearance on All the Smoke this year. Dismissing the bathroom rumor entirely, he said, “If I did poop my pants, why did I sit in a wheelchair? And if I had to go to the bathroom, you think it would’ve taken just two minutes?” Pierce’s explanation is almost as entertaining as the theories themselves.

The truth? We may never know. But Pierce leaning into the drama only makes the story more iconic, so much so that even the Lakers icon Kobe Bryant didn’t let go of that incident and used it to take a dig at the 2008 NBA champ.

The time when Kobe Bryant refused a wheelchair despite serious injury

Black Mamba’s refusal to use a wheelchair despite tearing his Achilles tendon in 2013 remains one of the most iconic displays of toughness in NBA history. During the game, when the Lakers’ training staff brought out a wheelchair to help him off the court, Bryant famously declined. Loyalists of the game won’t be surprised with Bryant’s ability to not go down.

Former Lakers trainer Gary Viti later revealed the legendary response that accompanied the refusal: “F— Paul Pierce.” This fiery comment referred to Pierce’s aforementioned infamous wheelchair exit during the 2008 NBA Finals. The rivalry between the two teams stayed high for years.

Bryant’s defiance didn’t stop there. He limped back to the free-throw line and made both shots before walking off the court under his own power. Clearly, Paul Pierce’s “flair for the dramatic” served as a source of entertainment for fans in various forms.