J.R. Giddens Draws Many Similarities To Paul Pierce

Lee Herman covers the NBA and the Boston Celtics for North Station Sports. Check out more of his great work on NSS.

Everyone knows the starters by heart and could probably rattle off individual stats of each player and their favorite And1 tour move that they are capable of. That’s all fine and dandy, but I’m the fan that looks ahead while appreciating the now. I can see the legs going on the Big Three.

Maybe not now, maybe not next year, but much like Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, they can go at any time.

Without further ado, our first edition of Meet the Bench:

J.R. Giddens

No. 4 in your program, No. 15 on the bench

Why J.R. first? I don’t know. I’m high on him for no particular reason other than the parallels to Paul "The Truth" Pierce. Blasphemy, I know. Let me give you something to chew on.

Giddens went to Kansas (for two years, mostly because Bill Self retained J.R. as a recruit after Roy Williams had already signed him and then bolted to UNC) and lo and behold, so did Pierce. Rock, chalk, coincidence?

In his second year at Kansas, Giddens was involved in a nightclub stabbing that resulted in 30 stitches in his calf. Count your teeth real quick, that’s about how many stitches were in the dude’s leg assuming you practice good oral hygiene. (The rest of you, Randy Jackson has a number of a guy good with veneers that will make you look like you have a mouth full of halogen bulbs.)

Paul Pierce, stabbed in a night club. Pierce had to face accusations of poor work ethic early in his career and in his loyalty to the team. Giddens was suspended in New Mexico by coach Ritchie McKay who said, “He did nothing illegal, nothing unethical. This program tries to promote being a good teammate, and I want to emphasize that.”

Character issues have swirled around both players at one point or another during their careers, and they could have become embroiled in petty, self-aggrandizing agendas or the Frost-like path less traveled to redemption.

Both players responded admirably. Pierce took the C’s to the...

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