Paul Pierce goes viral for his comments about ESPN firing

Jul 10, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former basketball player Paul Pierce arrives on the red carpet at Microsoft Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Those waiting for Paul Pierce to apologize … are just going to have to keep on waiting.

Speaking this week on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast, the retired Basketball Hall of Famer Pierce made blunt comments about his firing from ESPN. Pierce was let go in 2021 after filming himself on an Instagram Live video participating in a poker game while drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and being surrounded by women in bikinis. You can see that video here.

“I got fired by having some entertainment,” said Pierce. “I’m playing cards. It’s my boy’s birthday. It’s girls dancing and we blowing some tree. What did I do wrong? … It wasn’t my house.”

Here is the full clip of Pierce’s comments (but beware of the bad language).

Paul Pierce recounts being fired from ESPN on his day off:

“I got fired for having some entertainment. What did I do wrong?” 🤷🏾‍♂️

Subscribe & watch a dope convo w/ The Truth, @PaulPierce34 📺 → https://t.co/tNyj1hoL2N pic.twitter.com/DD9O0YHRB9

— I AM ATHLETE (@IAMATHLETEpod) April 10, 2023

Pierce, now 45, worked at ESPN as an NBA analyst after retiring as a player in 2017. He was a memorable on-air personality for the network … but not always for good reasons since plenty of his opinions sparked criticism.

As for Pierce’s firing, it probably wasn’t so much what he did but rather that he filmed himself doing so. ESPN, owned by Disney, is essentially a family company, and the optics of keeping Pierce around after those on-camera shenanigans would have been pretty terrible.

Despite no longer having a platform at ESPN, Pierce has been far from quiet since being canned. He has even taken other big shots at the network before.