Every NBA star might have witnessed a change in the game when they landed in a different era. The most recent one to share his experience on this is ex-Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce. Appearing on the ‘Truth Lounge Show’, Pierce shared an instance that occurred after he landed with the Washington Wizards (2014) that made him realize the change in the NBA. 

When Paul Pierce revisited his beginning time with the Wizards, he was the only one early to the practice. And he was not expecting anyone else until the clock struck 10 and to his surprise, no one came been after 10. “I went in the locker room like where everybody at, everybody was on their phones… this was Twitter was out… they on Instagram, they on Twitter… I knew that the NBA started changing over and it started becoming less competitive,” he said on the Truth Lounge Show.

He further mentioned how the rules also started changing, and there was no more bumping in the lane. However, Paul Pierce earlier stated on the show that the situation was different when he was with the Celtics. He recollected that back when he was with the Celtics, there was a culture of getting to practice early. He mentioned that even the Brooklyn Nets had a bit of something similar going on.

However, this changed for Pierce when he landed with the Wizards in 2014. The 2008 NBA champ also mentioned this as the time he realized it was over for him in the NBA. Notably, Paul Pierce made his NBA debut with the Celtics in 1998, so we can view the change he observed in the Wizards as a part of the NBA’s transition from the 00s era to the 10s. 

A closer look into the major changes in the NBA from the 00s to the 10s era

As Paul Pierce mentioned on the show, he witnessed multiple rule changes during his time in the NBA. However, the major ones include the legalization of zone defense and a ban on hand-checking. Notably, zone defense was banned in 1947 to let the dominant players play more freely. However, it had to be legalized again, and the reason is specifically said to be Shaquille O’Neal, who had become an unstoppable, physically dominant force.

It is worth mentioning that hand-checking was previously banned in 1979 but again enforced in 1995. But with both zone defense and hand-checking in place after 2002, the offensive part of the game suffered. So, to promote more offensive gameplay, the NBA implemented a ban on hand-checking starting in the 2005 season. 

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