Paul Pierce Crushes Brooklyn Nets, Says Last Season Was 'Horrible'

The Truth has no problem spitting truth. 

Now residing on the playoff-bound Washington Wizards, the 17-year veteran pulled no punches when discussing last season's rocky stint with the Brooklyn Nets. 

"I'm much happier,'' Pierce said in a riveting conversation with ESPNBoston.com's Jackie MacMullan published online Tuesday. "It was a tough situation (in Brooklyn) last year. Horrible, really."

Although the 2013-14 Nets rebounded from a 24-27 start to finish 20-11 over the season's final 31 games, Pierce bemoaned the lack of determination and leadership that his former teammates displayed. 

According to Pierce, the only players who showed a commitment to keeping the mood positive were himself and Kevin Garnett, who Brooklyn dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves at this past February's trade deadline:

"

It was just the guys' attitudes there. It wasn't like we were surrounded by a bunch of young guys. They were vets who didn't want to play and didn't want to practice. I was looking around saying, 'What's this?' Kevin (Garnett) and I had to pick them up every day in practice.

If me and Kevin weren't there, that team would have folded up. That team would have packed it in. We kept them going each and every day.'

"

Although the Nets were able to salvage what appeared to be a lost season and capture a first-round playoff victory over the Toronto Raptors, Pierce wasn't smitten with his team's effort on a day-to-day basis.

Given the expectations the team was trying to live up to, it's hard to blame him.

The 37-year-old also didn't hesitate to discuss Brooklyn's star point guard. While Deron Williams has generally disappointed for much of the last two seasons while battling ankle injuries and a revolving door of head coaches and offensive schemes, Pierce remarked that he was displeased by the 30-year-old's inability to shoulder a bigger load last season:

"

Before I got there, I looked at Deron as an MVP candidate. But I felt once we got there, that's not what he wanted to be. He just didn't want that.

I think a lot of the pressure got to him sometimes. This was his first time in the national spotlight. The media in Utah is not the same as the media in New York, so that can wear on some people. I think it really affected him.'

"

Appearing in 64 games a season ago, Williams' scoring average (14.3 points) dipped 4.6 points lower than the season prior, and he averaged the fewest assists since his rookie year. Those numbers have only further declined this go-round, with Williams averaging the fewest points (13.0) since his rookie season on a career-worst 38.7 percent shooting. 

Pierce, who reiterated to MacMullan that he plans to retire after his contract expires at the end of next season, also dropped truth bombs regarding the cohesion of Boston's former Big Three.

Specifically, Pierce dove deep on the relationship between himself, Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo:

"

It was a weird relationship. We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That's just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we'd be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn't show up. We'd go to his charity events but Ray wouldn't show up to somebody else's.

I called him on it. I said, 'Man, Ray, we support all your stuff but when we ask you, you don't come to ours.' I remember when Rondo re-signed with Boston, we had a little dinner at a restaurant and Ray didn't show up.

"

Past differences aside, Pierce is staring at a chance to leave his mark with the Wizards, as he seeks to help lift a young core into the second round for just the third time in the last three decades.

During his first season in the nation's capital, Pierce has provided solid veteran leadership and a hot hand from distance, drilling more than 39 percent of his triples. 

And while Washington is locked into the Eastern Conference's No. 5 seed, Pierce and the Wizards can still have a profound impact on the final postseason picture—with an ironic twist, as ESPN.com's Mike Mazzeo noted: 

With more than 3,000 career postseason points under his belt, Pierce will look to provide a steady scoring hand en route to helping guide Washington to a first-round upset in a four-five matchup for the second year in a row.

Whether the Wizards' opening foe winds up being the Chicago Bulls or Toronto Raptors remains to be seen, but there's no denying that a prospective second-round meeting with the Atlanta Hawks would set the stage for an epic duel.