“I’m a man of my word,” Paul Pierce said. And when legends make promises, fans expect them to deliver—no shortcuts, no excuses. So when Paul Pierce boldly upped the ante with a bet that mixed pride and pain, the sports world was all eyes and ears. But is he a man of his ‘words’? Do you think he cheated a bit? Before Game 2 of the Celtics vs. Knicks, the Celtics legend made a bold bet! He said he would walk 20 miles to work if the Celtics lost to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And that too barefoot, without any shoes. And much to his disappointment, the team lost. Now, it was upon him to fulfill his promise. And he did it, but it seems he chose an easier way out.

Twenty miles is no joke! Even walking with shoes on, it would be difficult. Surely, he must have thought about it before placing the bet. It seems that he didn’t. While the team had a 20-point lead initially, the Celtics legend didn’t think much. He had even claimed that there was a better chance of seeing dinosaurs than the Celtics losing. Ultimately, the team lost 90-91, even slipping 0-2 lead.

Well, he is an athlete and has an advantage. But even athletes have limits. Not to mention, Pierce retired quite a few years back. But he bravely took up the challenge and even shared snaps and snippets online. “Alright, time for me to get to steppin,” Pierce said in the clip. The destination was the FS1 studio in Los Angeles. Another part of the challenge was that he would wear his bathrobe throughout the bet. He was wearing one! He was without shoes and walked for nearly 7 hours, that’s right. But he wasn’t exactly barefoot. He still had socks on his feet. 

While it’s definitely safer with socks on, what’s your take on this? Did he break the rule for his bet? As for Pierce, one thing is certain: he’s not going to make such bets again! Oh, he has admitted it. “I’m never doing this again y’all. I’m never putting no bet like this ever again. I feel like I accomplished something great, dog. That was an accomplishment, at the end of the day,” Pierce declared. But you have to give it to him that he chose to step up than keep it aside as a joke, even it came with an ‘if’!

Well, Pierce certainly made it back to the Fox Studio. But in an odd and very familiar situation.

Fans still troll Paul Pierce over his one injury!

He got into a wheelchair! And an assistant helped him! When he entered the studio room as his colleagues cheered and clapped for him. Just then, many questioned whether the theatrics were a bit much or just classic Pierce playing to the crowd. The stint quickly got everyone trolling him again, as it reminded them of the 2008 Finals.

In the third quarter of Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics legend had to sit in a wheelchair after taking a fall. He was almost crying due to his injury. However, he returned quite quickly, jogging his way back within a minute. And well, there was no dearth of creativity in wild assumptions, such as that he needed to use the bathroom and more. One was that he might have faked his injury!

Later, during his appearance on the Showtime Basketball discussion, he clarified that he had suffered a sprained MCL. “I sprained my MCL. Don’t believe all them rumors that I had to go to the bathroom,” he assured the listeners. But with his latest stint, it seems like fans have forgotten the incident. Regardless of the reason, he led the Boston Celtics to victory in Game 1. And while this time the Celtics lost, at least Pierce kept his word, even if only halfway. What is your take on this?