Paul Pierce actually thought about leaving Celtics

It’s kind of hard to picture Paul Pierce in anything but Celtics green.

For 14 seasons he has worn only the Boston uniform. He’s going to retire a Celtic. He has been there through the rough seasons and a title season. His number will end up hanging from the rafters in the Garden.

But after the Celtics were eliminated by the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals last season and it seemed GM Danny Ainge might break up the team Pierce admitted he thought about maybe playing with another team, he told CSNNE.com.

“It was difficult not only losing, but not understanding what was next,” Pierce said. “A lot of that went in my head after we lost. It was like is [Kevin Garnett] gonna retire? Are we gonna rebuild? Am I gonna be playing somewhere else? A lot of things went through my head….

“It really did cross my mind,” Pierce said. “The way last year went with the trade rumors, the possibility of me being traded the possibility of us rebuilding, it was hard not to think about it, sometimes it wears on you mentally because you can’t know what your future is gonna be or what’s gonna be your next step.”

Like a lot of veterans, Pierce didn’t want to play on a team in rebuilding mode. He’s made his money, he’s tasted success and he wants to keep going after rings. If that meant changing teams…

But it didn’t come to that. Ainge brought back Kevin Garnett for three seasons, brought in guys like Jason Terry and Courtney Lee to give the team depth, and turned them into a potential contender.

Which means we don’t have to picture Pierce in any other color.

“I was telling somebody the other day I’m pretty much institutionalized [in Boston],” Pierce said. “If I went somewhere else I couldn’t see it. Hopefully I can be here a lot longer than even my playing days. Just to help along with coaching and management, I’ve really given some thought to that, giving back to what the game has given to me. And I hope I can continue to do that in Boston.”