Paul Pierce has two years left on the contract he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers last summer, but he admitted Friday that retirement is playing on his mind.
After the Clippers were eliminated Friday night, Pierce spoke about contemplating retirement, and said that he was going to think long and hard about his future.
“Each and every year for the last couple of years, I’ve thought long and hard about walking way from the game,” Pierce told reporters in a video posted to CSNNW.com. “The process will continue this summer, as I think long and hard, as I step closer to getting older in age, seeing how my body feels, talk to my family. I don’t want to make an emotional decision right now, so I’ll just take some time off, sit down with my family, and really think about it, think long and hard.
“It’s just gotta hit you one day. You know, you just never know, man. You just don’t know, you know what I mean? Right now it’s 50-50. I’ll see how I feel when I wake up, if I feel like getting ready for next season. If I don’t feel that feeling, that fire’s not there, it’s going to be tough.”
Pierce will be 39 in October. He said before the season that he’d retire if the Clippers won it all, but with his age and the toll that basketball has taken on his body, it’s probably not a huge surprise that he’s at least going to give some serious thought to calling it a career.
