The veterans of the league always harp on the old-school mentality. Being locked in and not even smiling at the opponents on the court. Yet it was one moment from Rasheed Wallace that flipped the switch of the Boston Celtics which Paul Pierce shared with Wallace after he moved to the Celtics. But, his antics in the Eastern Conference finals caught Pierce off guard.

Recently, Paul Pierce alongside Kevin Garnett discussed Game 1 of the NBA finals. The Celtics legends wanted their team to set the tone at home. Playing at TD Garden they wanted Joe Mazzulla and Co. “to establish that home court straight up.” During their time they also had a “no dapping policy” until the game finished. However, this changed when the Pistons played against the Celtics in the 2008 ECF. 

Even before Pierce got to narrating the story, he couldn’t control his laughter. On the latest episode of Ticket & The Truth, Paul Pierce said, “We play Detroit and you know, we about to jump ball and I’m looking at Tick and Rasheed over here doing something. I don’t know what Rasheed was on..” Pierce made the air guitar gesture and continued, “I looked at Tick he looked at me, like, you see what he doing? And I swear it flipped our switch.”

It was in the game 3 KG recalled the hilarious interaction. According to him, it was how Wallace had prepared for the games. He also said since game 3 was a home game for the Pistons, he might have done it for the fans. Pierce felt the disrespect back then even though they were friends. The ‘Ticket & The Truth’ decided, “No Talking After That.” The game and series eventually ended up in the Celtics’ favor. Wallace made a move to Boston on July 8, 2009. And a year later, he shared the stage with Pierce for a beautiful cause.

Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace are men of the theatre

Thanks to the NBA’s ‘Read to Achieve’ program, we saw a never-before-seen look at NBA players. According to Maria Burns Ortiz and ESPN, the Celtics stars were part of a play in 2010. Captain Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace entertained kids from the Ellis Memorial After School Program in Roxbury with their performances in The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal.

After the play, one little fan asked Wallace about his height.”I’m 6 feet 11, one inch shy of 7 feet,” Wallace told the curious kid. The little guy looked up and said, “Well, maybe in seven months you’ll be seven feet!”

Wallace thought his performance was “so-so.” However, ‘The Truth’ hyped up his fellow co-star. “Rasheed is great,” Pierce said. “He’s always great. I really think he should give up basketball and get into acting.”

Everybody has their way of getting in the zone for the game. Wallace had his strange ways and Paul Pierce had his old-school method. Both of them earned one NBA championship each during their career but got more love during their performance on stage.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.