Paul Pierce: Celtics Star's Loyalty Much More Impressive Than Scoring Milestone

Paul Pierce’s loyalty to the Boston Celtics through the many disappointing seasons that prevented him from earning the national recognition he deserved early in his career is truly admirable and is a real rarity in today’s NBA.

Pierce passed Larry Bird to move into second place on the Celtics all-time scoring list Tuesday night, but Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, who played in an era in which few stars such as Pierce left their original teams, realizes how special Pierce's loyalty is.

Per the Boston Herald: 

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“You know, here’s the part I wish people wrote more about Paul: Paul had a chance to leave us when we were bad,” Rivers said. “And instead of moaning that he wanted to go to a championship team, he stayed. And he said, I simply want to be a Celtic and I trust that we’re going to win a title some day. He had no reason to believe that, at that time. I mean, we were pretty awful. And to me, I wish people talked about his loyalty more, because I think that’s special, especially in this day and time, when everybody’s jumping from team to team. And that’s their right, too. I don’t begrudge that with anybody, but I do think it’s special that Paul Pierce decided that he wanted to be a Celtic for his life. And I think that’s pretty cool. In this day and time, in any sport, I think that’s special.”

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As the NBA moves to an era in which "super teams" and players leaving to chase titles becomes more and more common, memorable nights like Pierce enjoyed on Tuesday night will be an a rare occurrence in pro basketball.

This is extremely saddening.

Not many players stay with the teams that drafted them nowadays. The rare exceptions like Pierce are Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, Tim Duncan with the Spurs and Dwyane Wade with the Heat. 

The business of the NBA has changed dramatically with free agency, and players too often get impatient when their teams aren't winning and championships don't seem like an attainable goal in the near future.

With all the talk of Pierce passing Bird, which is a tremendous accomplishment, the bigger thing to celebrate is his loyalty to a franchise that wasn't winning for most of his career, yet he still worked hard to bring a title to Boston.

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"We have great fans," Pierce said via ESPN Boston. "They've seen it all from my younger days, from my trials and tribulations, to this point today and it's a great honor just for them to be able to stand up and give me that type of ovation. Being a Celtic for all these years and understanding what it means to be a Celtic and the ups and downs you go through just to come to this point in your career, it really means so much the support that they have given me over the years."

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Kobe Bryant could have left the Lakers several times during his career in Los Angeles, especially after Shaquille O'Neal was traded from the team and Bryant wasn't able to go deep into the playoffs anymore. But Bryant has remained in purple and gold because it means something to create a legacy with one team. 

It doesn't have to be a legacy with a large market franchise that has a lot of history either.

Look at Tim Duncan. He has remained with the Spurs his entire career, a team that had little playoff success before he arrived in the 1997 draft, and now, the Spurs are one of the most successful teams of the last decade, with four NBA titles since 1999.

It's really unfortunate that players don't remain with teams their entire careers, because the emotions felt at TD Garden Tuesday night by Pierce are so special, but fewer players will experience this kind of joy in the future. Pierce has created a bond with the fans of Boston who appreciate his loyalty to the team even when they were lucky to win 20-25 games in a season.

Seasons of mediocrity did not make Pierce any less motivated to become a better player as he passed age 30. His desire to win and improve have not regressed since he came into the league, or since he won his first championship in 2008.

When players like Pierce set team records, it's such a wonderful moment for the franchise and its fans because it helps put their careers in perspective and it aids our understanding of how great these stars have been to us fans.

NBA fans must hope that current young stars like Rose and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant can create their own legacies in their respective cities because it makes each milestone they reach and every record they break much more special for everyone involved.

Loyalty is an important part of life, and in pro basketball, it's quickly going away.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.

Follow @NicholasGoss35